Another Way
by Unturned
Summary: Vlad Masters recklessly decides to take his revenge on Jack before the reunion at his castle - a decision which causes the same situation for which he wanted revenge to befall Jack's son. With the young man causing a dramatic change in his priorities, it seems Vlad must rewrite his plans.
1. Birth of a Phantom

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.

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Another Way

A Danny Phantom Phanfic

Chapter 1 : The birth of a Phantom

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Danny let out an exasperated sigh as he followed his dad down the steps of the basement, a light scowl on his face.

"Da-ad, why do I have to help you with that portal? It's not like I have any idea what it's about, anyway…" he mumbled the last part in a low voice.

"Why, Danny! You're a ghost hunter-to-be! You need to know this stuff so you're ready to kick ectoplasmic BUTT!" he underlined his statement by swinging a fist out in the air after a non-existent spectre, "Just like me … and your mom, I guess" he added the last part with a shrug, and Danny forced himself not to snort, knowing that his mom could probably 'kick butt' much better than his dad.

"Yeah, Dad, I'm not so sure about that … I don't think I'd make a very good ghost hunter" _not to mention ghosts don't exist… _probably_._

"Nonsense, Danny! You'll make an excellent ghost hunter, just like your good old dad!" reaching the basement, Jack turned around and put his hands on his sons shoulders, or, where he thought they were – a good ten centimetres above Danny's. His son arched an eyebrow in hidden amusement as his dad stared blankly at him for a few seconds, before lowering his hands to the correct position, "Well, maybe more like your mom… but no worries! Your mother is a genius! Why, sometimes I even find myself thinking she's a better ghost hunter than me!" at this Danny couldn't help but laugh, but Jack just assumed that he'd succeeded in 'cheering up' his son, and grinned widely down at him, "Now, let me show you that portal, and you can help me find out what I screwed up … I mean, what your mother and I missed."

He suddenly flew through the lab, faster than one would expect for a man of that size, and pointed at the Fentons' newest invention saying with clear excitement in his voice, "Look Danny! It's the _Fenton Ghost Portal_!" as Danny reluctantly moved towards him.

As Danny drew nearer the newest instalment to the vast basement, he held his breath in awe – and maybe a bit of fear. His parents' lab was full of wacky inventions that never seemed to work, but unlike his sister, he didn't resent his parents for their weird obsession. Besides, it's no wonder that their devices never seem to work, since they need actual ghosts to test them out on – so until they found one of those, there was really no way to show if they worked or not, so he'd never been very worried about it.

But here was the potential solution to that problem, a way into the ghost world – _or was it 'ghost lair'?_ – and suddenly Danny understood his sister's frustration; if they couldn't get this gateway to work, it would indicate that his parents were obsessed with an illusion, a fairy tale, and that they'd wasted precious time which they could have spent with their kids – or on some other, more practical field of science – but if it _did_ work, then his parents had brought something potentially dangerous into their home. No wonder Jazz was constantly trying to warn them about her and Danny's mental health. She probably felt they were being indifferent to their safety.

The portal was eerie enough to be dangerous; a long tunnel stretched into the wall – _to god know's where_ – behind a metallic opening, the wires on the floor of the tunnel disappearing into darkness. Danny had a sudden, chilling sense of foreboding travelling up his spine as a shiver, and he swallowed. _Man, why am I such a chicken all of a sudden? I'm glad Tucker isn't here to see this; he would _so_ never let me live it down. _ Grinning at the thought of his best friend's reaction to this, he decided to edge closer to the portal and take a look inside –

A hand stretched out and grabbed him. Danny looked up at his dad with a frown, but his dad just shook his head, "Be careful what you touch, Danny. We don't know why this thing is refusing to work, so it's possible there's a loose wire or something – you could end up electrocuting yourself half to death!" He chuckled.

More than a bit creeped out by his dad's statement, Danny put up a fake laugh, "Ha, then I'd be, like, half a ghost or something, right, dad?"

But his attempt at a joke made his dad growl, "No son of mine would ever be a ghost! They're slimy, ectoplasmic vermin!" his dad's expression of obsessive rage frightened Danny enough to make the boy take a step back, but the older man didn't seem to notice – as usual – and continued, "And besides, there's no such thing as half a ghost, son! The real world stuff and ghost stuff couldn't possibly function together! Why, even our ghost weapons can barely contain the stuff we use to make ghost rays, see?" at the last word he whipped out his ecto-gun and pointed it at Danny – and made it go off accidentally.

Danny gasped loudly, cringed, and closed his eyes tightly as the ray came towards him – and went harmlessly through him. He peeked out through one eye, before slowly unfolding, checking all his limbs were all right, and let out a small cough to cover his embarrassment. He noticed his dad was still droning on about the Fenton Ghostrays being harmless to humans, but he wasn't sure how much more of his dad's unintentional shenanigans he could take that day, and tried to come up with an excuse for leaving for a couple of minutes, before he came up with the ultimate plan.

"Dad!" he cut through his dad's monologue, "Look, I have a lot of homework, so I really gotta run – I mean, I have to go visit Tucker!" As usual Danny failed so completely at his lies that that his voice pitched towards the end, but fortunately his dad was even more clueless than the rest of his family, and he completely missed the tell-tale signs of a lie on his son's face, voice and body language.

His dad's shoulders sagged, and Danny could have sworn he looked like a kicked puppy as he said, "But Danny, you haven't even seen the controlpanel yet," he whined, "Maddie did such a good job on it, too…"

Danny bit his lower lip and cursed himself for being so weak to the puppydog look – Sam could wrap him around his finger too, on the rare occasions that she downed herself to use it, "Well, I guess I could take a look at that, before I go, if it's only a couple of minutes-"

Completely ignoring the last bit, Jack cried out in joy and hauled his son towards the closet at the wall, making his son squeak, "Hey, dad what about the con—WAIT A MINUTE! Dad! I'M NOT WEARING THAT!" He exclaimed, as his dad started rummaging through the Fenton Jumpsuits – this couldn't be good.

"Aw, come on, Danny, you haven't even seen it yet!" he boomed, as he spun around with a small jumpsuit in his hands - _must be mom who made that one, it looks like it actually fits –_ and Danny heaved a breath of relief when he saw that it wasn't horrifyingly yellow. The white and black jumpsuit wasn't exactly a trendstarter either, but beggars can't be choosers. He grunted in frustration as his dad made him change into the fashion faux-pas, while he secretly daydreamed about burning the thing. Preferably along with his math homework - he was really bad at math.

When he finally got the thing on, he turned to his dad, and was embarrassed to see a tear roll down his cheek as he said in a serious voice, "Oh, Danny, it's like you're all grown up and leaving the nest, all ready to hunt your first ghost…"

"Uh… right, Dad. Sure." He frowned at his dad before turning to the mirror – _some part of him wondered if he really looked older in that suit_ – and grimaced when he saw that there was a sticker of his dad's face on his chest, which he quickly pulled off and crumpled.

"Woah, Danny, you can't do that! It's not right without a logo! Just wait a moment; I got some more of those lying around…" Danny felt his face go white when he thought about walking around with his dad's face on his chest, even if it was only in the basement, but he knew he couldn't dissuade his dad. Then he suddenly remembered that Sam had given him some of her drawings on sticker paper earlier today, and although he had mostly taken it to make her happy – _she has such a pretty smile_ - he convinced himself that anything was better than his dad's face.

Seriously. Have you _seen_ the dude?

He hurried over to the backpack he'd left beside the closet and dug around for the sheet and pulled off the least goth-looking of the choices left to him and smacked it on his chest.

His dad turned around with a goofy smile and his arms full of stickers – with his own face on them – and saw his son's improvisation, "Hey, son, where'd you get that?"

"Um, Sam gave it to me. It's like… my… logo?" he tried, shrugging.

His dad stared at him for a second before he beamed proudly at him and forgot all about the stickers in his arms, letting them fall to the ground in a big pile, "You already have your own ghost-hunting logo, son!? Way to go!" he ran forwards and patted him on the back, almost making the boy fall over.

"Heh, yeah, ghost-hunting." _Yeah, right._ He glanced back at the mirror to assess how horrible he looked – but he had to admit the artistic 'D' seemed to fit really well with his uniform. Suddenly he was disappointed that he wasn't going to wear that suit again. It almost looked pretty cool with that emblem. _Sam just has this ability to make things awesome,_ he thought to himself with a grin.

"Now, Danny let me show you how to operate the portal – when we get it to work - which will be soon! See, you just -" his dad started ranting, but neither of them got to hear what crazy things he'd done to the controls when Maddie wasn't looking – aside from placing the on-switch _inside_ the machine – because, suddenly, they weren't alone in the lab.

And boy, did their guest _not_ look happy.

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Vlad Masters is a patient man, or so he tells himself. He's one of those precious few people who can keep their anger locked up, till it's too great to be contained, and it breaks its confines. Vlad Masters enjoys his revenge served cold, with a side dish of justice, but even _his_ self-control has a limit.

He reached that limit today, much to his own surprise.

For months, nay _years_, Vlad had been planning the perfect revenge on the man who cost him everything; a year in the hospital, the love of his life and his very _humanity_. Oh, how ironic that he would use these ghostly abilities to punish the very man who forced them on him! The man who turned him into a _monster;_ his colleague at university, Jack Fenton!

He had it all planned out; he would have the reunion meeting held at his own prestigious castle, and when the Fenton family arrived, he would overshadow Jack and force him to act like a madman in front of his wife, the beautiful Maddie, who would then leave him and - after he'd made sure Jack suffered a permanent _end -_ he would swoop in and court the grieving maiden. He'd even accept her children into his – their – home, even though they were Jack's too…

But that dream was crumbled when Jack and Maddie had suddenly declined their invitation, because one of their inventions wasn't working, and they wanted to spend their time fixing it – something about a ghost portal, although Vlad's brain had stopped registering Jack's words after that. He'd been so shocked that he just mumbled a stiff acceptance of their decision and 'good luck' on their ghostly invention and hung up before Jack could say anything – although the thick-skulled man probably was as oblivious of Vlad's hatred of him as before.

After the call he'd been silent for several minutes, his mind blank – and then rage had set in. Some part of him knew he was overreacting, that the Fentons might have finished their invention by the time the reunion came around, and if not, he could always come up with another plan. After all, it wouldn't be _that_ strange for an old college friend to suddenly 'pop up'.

But at that moment it'd felt like all his plans had crumbled and burned, because Jack – _for surely it was Jack's fault –_ had messed up in his calculations for their ghost portal _again_! Rage had consumed him and he'd burst out of his office, found a place to transform into Plasmius, his ghost persona, and set his way for FentonWorks in Amity Park. Thankfully the business he had been visiting that day was relatively close, or he could have spent all day flying there. As it was, his anger strengthened him, and it wasn't diminished when he finally had the average looking building in sight – you couldn't miss it, not with that monster of an op. center on top and a great, glowing 'FentonWorks' sign in neon sticking out from the side of the building.

By that time he'd come up with a plan. Or rather, he'd simply use the same one he'd had for the reunion; make Jack make a fool of himself, and then kill him horribly. It was with those bloody thoughts that Vlad entered the house. He quickly realized that there was no one in the residential area and was about to scream in frustrated anger, when he heard faint noises from the basement.

_Of course their laboratory is in their basement. Is there a safer place if something explodes or there's a toxic slip?_ He remarked dryly to himself, cursing Jack for putting his Maddie in danger – for surely such a hay-brained idea couldn't have been hers.

Vlad sped down into the basement, his 'genius' plan already all but forgotten, as he prepared himself to get rid of his hated rival – only to stop short when he realized his enemy wasn't alone.

There was a boy with him, and his black hair made Vlad realize that he had to be Jack's son – but besides his colouring, he looked nothing like his dad. No, he had his mother's physique – or at least the _male _version of it – and his mother's face. The sight of the child in the awkward jumpsuit made Vlad pause for a moment. Did he really want to kill Jack in front of this child? In front of _Maddie's son_? And besides, if he didn't kill him afterwards as well, then the Fentons would know that a ghost had taken Jack out – and what he looked like – and that may motivate them to revenge rather than melancholy.

But before he could make up his mind, the two turned around and saw him, both with equally wide eyes, though Jack looked slightly less intelligent – or so Vlad told himself. They stared at each other for a second before Jack suddenly took a hold of his son's shoulders and pushed – or rather _threw_ – the kid behind him with a loud roar of "GHOST! Get behind me, son!"

The man immediately ran for the ghost weapons on the table, evidentally forgetting about his son, who had landed on floor and now sat there with an open mouth and wide, frightened eyes trained on Vlad. _This is probably the first time he's actually seen a ghost,_ Vlad commented to himself, _too bad I'm not _actually_ a ghost…_

His distraction with the boy almost proved fatal for him when Jack spun around with a severe looking ghost weapon in his hands, yelling, "I'm gonna take you apart molecule by molecule, blob of ectoplasmic waste!"

While Vlad's mind was still reeling from the illogical insult, he managed to narrowly avoid the ghost ray with minimal effort. His lips curled up in a sneer, and his hands lit with red ectoplasmic energy, which he fired at Jack without hesitation.

Jack yelped and showed surprising reflexes when he managed a dodge roll out of the path of destruction, leaving the twin beams to shatter the mirror behind him. The boy gasped and seemed to come out of his shock, as he quickly got to his feet and started backing away from Vlad, who barely noticed this, as he was more focused on getting a clear hit in on the big, blubbering buffoon in the orange jumpsuit.

Jack shot a few more shots at Vlad, who shifted between dodging them with ease and turning intangible. He raised a hand to his mouth and faked a yawn before smirking evilly, all while avoiding Jacks terrible aim, "Is this really _all_ the _great_ Jack Fenton can do? What a joke. You couldn't catch a ghost even if it let you." he jeered.

Jack grinded his teeth at the remark, "Lies! I'm an excellent ghost hunter! I … just … need … to … hit you!" he grunted the last bit, as Vlad continued to avoid his shots with ease, "Maddie says I'm the best hunter in the lab when she's not here!"

Although the joke in Maddie's 'compliment' was obvious, the mention of his love made the hybrid's eyes glow with a deeper shade of red and he suddenly stopped in mid-air, a terrible expression on his face, "You prehistoric ape! She was insulting you, you oaf!"

"Don't you speak about my wife like that!"

Vlad screamed and sent a ball of ectoplasm straight at the bigger man – and this time, it hit home.

Jack gasped when the attack hit him and slammed him straight into the wall, making him drop his weapon in the process. But being armed would not have helped Jack Fenton as he groaned and fell unconscious from the impact with the steel-enforced wall. He sank to the floor and stayed still.

Vlad grinned evilly as he floated to the floor, intending to give Jack the last strike and end this 20-year-long hateful grudge he'd harboured in his heart. When he towered over Jack's fallen form, he couldn't help but gloat, "Ah, Jack, you stole everything from me, but now the tables have turned. Now I will have the revenge I justly deserve!"

He charged another ectobeam, this time making sure it was strong enough to take out his rival once and for all. Lifting his hand up and backwards with a huge grin – he always had a flair for the dramatic – he readied himself to send off the attack – when he felt thin arms lock around his arm and throw off his aim, making the beam hit the ceiling instead of its proper target. His other hand shot around his back and found the small frame of Jack's son. His grip locked around the boy's throat and he pulled the child in front of him, his feet hanging a few inches over the ground.

The boy choked at the uncomfortable way he was being held up, but his eyes were wide with fear. The look threw Vlad off for a second. He'd been furious at the boy for interrupting him, but obviously he was much too panicked to think clearly. He hadn't even tried using any of the ghost weapons on him, instead favouring a direct attack. Foolish.

He brought his face so close to the younger's that their noses were almost touching, and was awarded with a terrified whimper as he snarled, "Do _not_ get in my way, _boy_, or so help me shortcake I will send you the same way as your father!" he watched with satisfaction as the boy swallowed and paled even further, but when he didn't respond, he decided to give him a practical demonstration.

He carelessly tossed the boy towards the side of the room, not even bothering to check where he landed. But he knew it would hurt. He didn't pay attention to the familiar humming sound starting up in the direction he'd thrown the teen.

His eyes locked back on Jack, the snarl on his lips growing. He was about to ready another attack, when a bright green light filled the room and a bloodcurdling scream resounded throughout the damaged laboratory. The sound was so terrifying that it would touch anyone's heart with fear, and despite only being half human, Vlad spun around with shock painted all over his blue features. The scream was coming from the direction he'd thrown the boy.

There, at the end of the wall, was a round archway. The light was gone, but instead it was filled with green smoke. With a stab of white, hot shock, Vlad remembered what Jack had said over the phone…

They'd been working on a ghost portal.

The boy must have turned in on by accident, when Vlad tossed him in there.

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. When he, Jack and Maddie had been in college, Vlad had been 'electrocuted' by Jack's prototype portal; it had been small and faulty, and yet it had almost killed him. He had spent a year in the hospital, and had to come back there for years, even when his ghost half finally developed. All because of Jack.

There was no way anyone could live after being electrocuted by a fully functional ghost portal of that size, least of all a child.

He'd just gotten Jack's - no, _Maddie's_ son killed.

He glanced at Jack, and the remorse in his eyes was replaced by annoyance. He couldn't possibly have Maddie lose _two_ family members in one day, even if one of them was _Jack_. The loss of her son alone would surely send her into a depression. No, he couldn't kill Jack, not now. Hopefully, Maddie would blame Jack for not properly protecting her son, and he, Vlad, could swoop in through the cracks in their marriage and court the damsel, but at that moment he felt very little motivation. Even if it was an accident, he was not proud of what he'd done to the boy. A part of the hybrid had actually admired him; despite being terrified of the evil 'ghost' attempting to kill his father, he'd jumped on him. He might have been fearful, but that boy was no coward.

Vlad sighed in resignation, and was about to fly off and start the long flight home, to spend the night alone with his thoughts as usual, when he heard a low groaning. At first he thought it was Jack waking up, but one look told him that the man was still out could, and the sound hadn't really matched Jack's booming voice. He frowned in confusion before he noticed a scraping and thumping sound behind him, like someone dragging their feet over the ground, and the hybrid turned around towards the ghost portal with wide eyes, staring at the slowly dissipating green mist.

A white, gloved hand came out of the mist and grasped around the side of the portal entrance, desperately trying to hold up the weight of the rest of its body. A second later, Jack's son followed.

But he didn't look like Jack's son anymore. His hair was stark white, his eyes neon green, although they seemed clouded from the pain the boy had undoubtedly just gone through. He was still wearing his jumpsuit, but the colour had been inverted. To top it all off, there was a soft, whitish glow around the child, making him look almost otherworldly. Which he was, of course, Vlad realized.

The boy had survived. He was half ghost now. A hybrid.

Just like him.

The boy staggered out of the portal with an unfocused expression, but when he saw Vlad, a spark lit up those glowing green eyes, and a look of determined anger so much unlike the fearful one he'd had just minutes before fell over his face. He lifted his other gloved hand and pointed at the fanged, blueskinned ghost in front of him.

"Y-you… get away… from him!" he croaked and it took the older a second to realize that he was talking about his father, who were still lying unconscious and – relatively – unharmed behind him. Vlad didn't even bother looking back at him. He was much too busy staring at the younger hybrid with a growing sense of amazement.

_He must just have gone through a hell of pain, worse, probably, than what I experienced. And yet he's focusing completely on his father's wellbeing, rather than his own._ That thought was followed by another one; _how is he even conscious?_

As if to answer Vlad's mental question, the boy finally went limp, his green eyes rolled back in his head, and he sunk to the floor. This was soon followed by a pair of bright, white rings of light travelling from his waist to his head and feet, changing him back into his human form.

The older hybrid gasped and quickly floated over to the boy, putting a hand on his back. When he felt the unmistakable signs of breathing and a heartbeat, he drew a sigh of relief. The boy was alive. And no worse for wear, it seemed. Incredible.

He turned the boy over on his back and stared intensively at his face for a moment, trying to process what had just happened. He had turned into a half human, half ghost hybrid.

_Vlad_ had turned him into a hybrid.

How was he any better than Jack Fenton?

He felt a stab of regret when he looked at the exhausted boy. A victim to his, and Jack's, actions, the boy would now have to go through the trying experience of being half _dead_. And as a teenager. That would not be easy.

Vlad picked up the boy, holding one arm under his knees and the other on his back, making sure the younger's head rested safely on his shoulder, before he drifted up through the ceiling. He could guess which room was the boy's from his brief search through the house earlier, and he gently dropped him on the bed with sheets decorated with rockets and stars. Judging from the rest of the room, the child must really be into astronomy.

He looked at the boy for a few more seconds before he managed to tear his eyes away and, turning himself invisible and intangible, flew out of the house, already deep in thought.

His loss of temper had been inexcusable, he now realized. Simply killing Jack had not been part of his plan, and letting someone see him do it had _certainly_ been on his list of things to avoid. But what was even worse, was that he'd failed, and now he would have to be even more careful, because the boy, _the new hybrid_ –the one like _him_ – would surely realize what he'd done, when his mother married Vlad. And Vlad couldn't have the boy hate him, oh no. He was much too important to be a simple enemy.

The pang of guilt quickly forgotten, a wide grin split Vlad's face.

_It seems like this game just got much more_ interesting.

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**A/N: Well, that's the first chapter. I'm not too proud of the fight-scene - or rather, the lack of one. The exchange between Vlad and Jack also felt forced when I wrote it, but I hope I got the general situation across.**

******So, did I get their personalities right? Is the story too hurried?** Go ahead and review! Or simply write a few words; I'd be happy with any kind of feedback :)


	2. Subjective Reality

**A/N: Thank you all for the reviews and comments on the last chapter! **

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Another Way

Chapter 2 : Subjective Reality

Maddie opened the door to FentonWorks while glancing back at her teenage daughter, Jazz. The two of them had been visiting a nearby college; despite being only a junior in high school, the girl was already hard at work trying to find a good college. Although she didn't really plan on going to a nearby, small-town college - she had her sights set on Yale or Harvard – she took any chance she could to familiarize herself with the 'adult life'. She would probably pout the rest of the day if she knew Maddie still thought of her as a 'teenager'.

"…and the library! I can just imagine studying there. Of course, it wouldn't be as great as Harvard's, but all things considered, for such a low population…" her daughter ranted on, with lights in her eyes. She didn't even realize that her mother sent her an amused smile and called through the front door that they were home. She knew from experience that she'd rather Jack knew she was coming in, or she might find herself covered in ectofoam.

But she frowned when no one replied to her call, and went further into the house, quickly noticing that neither her husband nor her son were in the kitchen or the living room, "Jack? Danny? Are you home?" she called again, a little louder, and this time someone answered her.

Her son's panicked voice drifted up from the basement, "Mom? Mom, dad's knocked out!"

Her eyes widened and she ran down the stairs of the basement, going through the possible scenarios that could have ended with someone getting hurt – had Jack forgotten the safety measures she reminded him of every day, and gotten himself hurt? Was Danny hurt too?! She didn't even see Jazz follow her with a mixed expression of concern and annoyance on her face.

When she finally saw her son and her husband, she was both relieved and worried – relieved because Danny seemed fine, although a bit shaken up, and worried because Jack was lying completely still on his back, on the floor next to the wall, a scorch mark evident on the front of his orange jumpsuit. The reinforced wall even seemed to have taken a hit.

She gasped and ran over to her husband, "Jack! Danny, what happened?!" she asked her paler-than-usual son, as she kneeled beside the man.

"It… we were attacked…" the boy tried, as though he wasn't sure how to explain what had happened.

"Attacked?! By whom?"

"Not… not a 'who', mom. It was a ghost." She would have thought he was joking, if his expression hadn't been completely sombre and serious.

"A…a ghost?" she repeated, not quite daring to believe it, "You were attacked by a _ghost_?"

"Yeah, mom."

She stared wide-eyed at him, not able to contain her own growing excitement, even when her husband was obviously hurt. _A ghost? Did a ghost truly appear right in the lab?_ Then Jack groaned and moved and, suddenly remembering the situation, she put a hand on his shoulder.

"Jack? Are you alright?" she asked, as he pulled himself up to lean on his elbows and stare hazily at his wife.

"Mads? What are you doing home so soon?"

"I'm not early, honey, in fact, it seems I'm too late." She responded sadly.

"Too late? Too late for what?" Jack blinked and stared at her in confusion for a second, but then his eyes widened, "Mads! A ghost! There was a ghost! Here! In the lab!" the other three members of the Fentons gaped at him when he sprung to his feet, swaying only a little on his still-unsteady feet, and roared, "A GHOST!"

Seeing that her love was alright – relatively – Maddie sprung to her feet with a grin to match her husband's, "Was it really a _ghost_, Jack?! Danny said it attacked you!"

"It did!" Jack said enthusiastically, "It… it said it was threatened by my awesome ghost fighting skills, so he wanted to get rid of me while my back was turned!"

Danny made a face, "Well, that's not quite what…"

"But how did it get here, Jack?" Maddie asked, not hearing her son's mutterings.

Jack looked blankly at her for a second, but then his eyes caught a green glimpse from one side of the lab, and he turned towards it, the other Fentons' eyes catching the same light as he turned.

A bright-green, swirling vortex had opened in the Fenton Ghost Portal, a few dark and ominous shapes barely visible behind the green veil of the gateway. All of the humans in the basement stared enthralled into it, three of them with a feeling of dread reaching them from the sight, one with a growing sense of belonging.

"Jack…" Maddie breathed, her eyes wide in wonderment, now that she'd finally noticed the working gateway, "you fixed the Fenton Ghost Portal!?" she squeaked in excitement, "Oh, that must be where it came from!"

Jack blinked dumbfounded at the portal, mentally swearing to himself that it hadn't been working before that foul ectoplasmic waste bucket of a ghost had knocked him out… but maybe the hit had knocked some of his memory loose! _Yeah, it'll probably come back to me later!_ He grinned to himself and wrapped an arm around his son, not noticing how he winced at the touch, "Yeah, Danny and I must've fixed it and that ectoscum took its chance to face its greatest enemy, ghost hunter JACK FENTON! Right, Danny-boy?"

Danny made a bad attempt at a smile, "yeah… that must've been what happened…" he trailed off, staring towards the green vortex with a frown.

Maddie saw the fear in her son's eyes, but guessed wrong at the reason, as she gently purred up his hair, "Oh, Danny, you must have been so frightened by that foul ghost. I'm sorry you had to go through that."

At her words Danny's eyes widened and he shook off her hand and his dad's arm and moved back, "No way, I wasn't scared. I'm not a child!" he protested, with a very childlike pout, crossing his arms.

Behind him, his sister 'tsk'd' and went up to put a hand on his shoulder, "Of course you were scared, Danny. It's perfectly normal," Jazz stated with an air of complete confidence, "when you've just had someone break into your home!"

Jack frowned at his daughter in confusion, "Don't you mean a 'ghost attack', princess?"

Jazz shook her head determinedly, "There are no such things as _ghosts_, dad. You and Danny must have been victims of a burglary, _you _were knocked out and Danny only agrees with you because he's too shocked to think clearly."

Danny sputtered in indignation and pulled away from her hand with a disgusted look, "I'm not in _shock_, Jazz! I'm _fine!_" he insisted.

Maddie gave him a quick check-up and said worriedly, "I don't know, Danny, you look a little sick… are you sure that ghost didn't hurt you?"

Danny opened his mouth to repeat what he'd said, but then realized that he really was feeling very faint – the pain of being electrocuted was bad enough, but the way he'd woken up was … his eyes fell to the floor and he scratched the back of his neck timidly, "Well, I almost slammed into the portal, and I … I got a bit of a shock."

Maddie frowned a went over to look at the portal, her eyes narrowing in contemplation as she stretched her hand out towards the swirling green, "it's not letting off any excess electricity now, though…"

Danny bit his lip, "Well, it was still just powering up, maybe that's why."

Jazz sighed in exasperation and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Yeah, or maybe it's because it's a crazy invention designed to transport the user to a _realm that doesn't exist!"_

"Jazz! It does _so_ exist! And it's a _zone_, not a _realm._" her dad intervened with a childish sort of logic that only Jack Fenton could pull off without embarrassment, making Jazz groan in annoyance.

"If anyone needs us, Danny and I will be in my room. I have to help Danny overcome the trauma of being attacked by strangers and _electrocuted by his own parents' inventions!"_ she announced loudly, and stomped up the stairs, dragging her unwilling little brother behind her.

Maddie watched her leave with a sigh. Her daughter was insistent on believing that ghosts didn't exist and she feared it was her own and Jack's fault for being so obsessed with them all throughout her childhood. "It's like she's punishing the ghosts for taking us away by not believing in them," Maddie mumbled to herself.

Jack, who'd felt depressed after Jazz's sudden dismissal, heard what his wife said and perked up, "Jazz is punishing ghosts? Of course she is! She's a real Fenton after all!" he announced proudly, making his wife smile in amusement.

"Yes, Jack, I suppose she is."

* * *

Danny swore that Jazz had to have been working out – either that, or he was weaker from the accident than he'd thought (because she couldn't possibly be naturally stronger than him – right?). He struggled feebly against her grip, groaning in annoyance.

"Ja-azz, let go!"

She shook her head without looking back at him, "No, little brother, I have to make sure you're not suffering lingering effects from being attacked by criminals – and apparently, electrocuted! – and in your own home to boot!"

"Criminals? What, you mean the ghost?" he asked, momentarily puzzled by her choice of words.

"Our parents' obsession has bled into your fragile psyche and made you think it's real! It's very damaging for a child!"

"Are you saying I'm hallucinating?!" he stammered, embarrassed and angry.

She looked back at him with an exasperated expression, "Danny, we both know that there are no such things as ghosts. It's all an unhealthy pastime that our parents insist on pursuing, instead of spending their time on more worthwhile projects – such a making it to the cover of Einstein magazine!" she breathed the last bit with a mixed air of both deep annoyance and admiration.

He managed to pull his arm from her grasp in a quick motion and glared angrily at her as she spun around to face him, hands on her hips and a disapproving pout on her face.

"I'm telling you, it was a ghost! It was super mad at dad and wanted to _kill_ him!" he thought he'd gotten through to her for a moment when a fearful expression flittered across her features for a second, but it soon morphed into that mildly worried and disappointed look that was all-Jazz.

"Danny, we need to talk about this, and then you need to get some rest. You've obviously been shocked – in more ways than one!" she replied, ignoring what he just said, honest concern for his mental wellbeing apparent in her hushed voice.

Danny growled and rolled his eyes before stomping off towards his room, his small frame barely managing to make weak 'thumps!' on the carpet under his feet, "Fine. Be like that."

"No! Danny, it's important to sort through these crucial moments of you teen-identity, or you'll be scarred socially! Danny! DANNY, COME BACK!"

When Danny slammed the door behind him, he heard her mutter weakly, "…I'll be here when you change your mind…" and he almost - _almost _- felt bad. Then he remembered how she'd treated him like a mental-patient, and the rage flared up all over again. He noticed his mirror out of the corner of his eye, and the anger was replaced by a numb sense of anxiety.

He walked slowly towards the glass, as though it was a ferocious animal he'd been forced to tame, a stared sulkily into his own tired and fearful eyes. He'd half expected to see the same sight that had greeted him in the mirror in the lab. After he'd fallen through the ceiling.

_He woke up with a strange tingling feeling in his stomach, and opened his eyes to see said body part literally being swallowed by his bed. At least that's what it looked like to his pained and sleepy brain. Understandably, he panicked, but that only made his predicament worse and he plummeted through the bed and floor underneath as though they were non-existent. When he came out on the other side, dropping from the ceiling in the lab like a bag of potatoes, he began to believe that he'd fall all the way to the core of the earth. Luckily, he stopped when he hit the floor – hard. Admittedly, he didn't hit it as hard as he would have expected, but to his already aching body, it was enough to leave him squirming in agony for a couple of minutes before he managed to convince himself to get up and look around his surroundings._

_The first thing he saw was his father, lying stock still on the cold floor. He gasped and ran over to him. He laid a hand on the man's sizable chest and was relieved to feel a steady pulse. Then he froze. Because _his hand wasn't his hand.

_It was covered in a white glove, not unlike the gloves that his parents used, and there was a faint white aura around it, casting a ghostly light on his father's orange jumpsuit._

_His eyed widened as he brought it up for a closer inspection, treating his own hand like a foreign object. Trailing the glove further down his arm, he realized that 'it' continued up his shoulder, down his chest… with a surge of anxiety he got to his feet and shuffled over to the mirror, fearing what he'd see._

This is not me.

_The boy in the mirror was wearing a jumpsuit like his own, but with inverted colours. His eyes were glowing an eerie green, his skin pale and his hair snow-white. And around him was that strange white light, framing him, though not quite 'coming' from him. It surrounded his frame from every angle he looked, making him seem like an ethereal, mystical creature._

_The sight unnerved him more than he could describe. _

_He gave a start when he suddenly heard his mother's voice from the living room upstairs, and his stomach curled into painful knots as the breath stilled in his lungs, leaving one thought to resound in his head; _she can't know.

_He might not be as smart as Jazz, but he wasn't a complete fool either and he could put two and two together; a ghost portal, searing pain - and apparently he could now function as his own nightlight. _

I'm a ghost_, he thought, feeling almost numb from the realization. His mother was going to hunt him, his dad would _hate_ him, and Jazz… well, Jazz would probably deny his existence._

_He could hear his mother moving further into the house, calling, and he felt the terror welling up in him, until he would have been near-hyperventilating if his current form hadn't had very little need of air._

No, no, no, no_, she couldn't see him like this, like the thing she hates! _I'm human, human, I'M NOT A GHOST!_ Suddenly, he felt an intense – but not _painful_ – sort of coldness in his chest. It spread, travelling up and down his body with a blinding light, leaving behind a warmth that he hadn't realized he was missing._

_He quickly closed his eyes when the light went past his face, and opened them to his reflection – his completely _human_ reflection. He stared at the boy – _himself_ – for a second, the relief making his knees weak, before summing up the courage to call back to his mother._

"_Mom? Mom, dad's knocked out!"_

Now he stood before his reflection again, but the sight of his human self didn't inspire as much relief as it had in the basement. Even though he was undoubtedly alive, he could still feel it in his chest; that sense of soothing cold, like a heart, belonging to something different from a human – but something that was also entirely _him_.

Even in this form he could still feel the ghost underneath the surface; he wasn't completely rid of it, and the feeling scared him.

He sighed and sat on his bed, hiding his face in his hands. _What was going to happen to me now?_

* * *

Jazz sat by her desk, tapping an angry rhythm on the wood with her nails, a deep frown on her face. _They've really gone too far this time,_ she thought to herself, _Danny gets hurt and they make it out to be a ghost who hurt him! … Maybe they're having trouble coping with the guilt?_ She wondered a little about that and her expression softened a bit, _but even so, this is dangerous! They've gotten Danny to believe it too… what if he grows up with the same unhealthy obsession?!_ She sat up straight in her chair at that thought, her eyes widening.

She got up and started pacing the room, _No, I can't let that happen. I was hoping that mom and dad would see sense, but obviously I was wrong. If they're not going to think about Danny's welfare, then…_ she looked up and glared out the window at the darkening sky.

_Then I'll just have to. _She smiled,_ Don't worry, Danny, I'll take care of you, little brother._

But then the smile slid off her face to be replaced by another frown. How was she supposed to help Danny? He knew that she didn't believe in ghosts, but his fragile mind was sure that he'd been assaulted by one, so he'd never open up to her enough to let her convince him that ghosts didn't exist and that there was nothing to fear.

"How do I get him to talk to me?" she mused aloud, as though expecting the air to answer her question, "He knows I'd never believe…" she stopped in her tracks, "Unless I pretend I do…" she shook her head with a grimace. No, she couldn't do that – one should never play along with the patient's illusions; that would only strengthen them. It was important that the people they trust deny their misconceptions –

_But Danny doesn't trust me._

The thought surprised her. She didn't know when she'd realized that Danny had stopped trusting her, but she was sure. Danny wouldn't have pulled away from her that quickly if he did; he'd have tried harder to convince her of the alleged 'ghost attack'.

But it hadn't always been like that. Danny and she used to be closer than most other siblings; he'd trusted her with his secrets when he was younger, but as they both got older, they'd drifted away.

She bit her lower lip in thought; _I'll have to show him that he can still trust me, but how? Trust is _build,_ after all…_ the answer seemed obvious; she couldn't convince him that ghosts didn't exist unless he trusted her, and he wouldn't trust her unless he thought she believed him, so she'd have to… pretend she did.

_It's dishonest, but it's for Danny's own good, _she thought uncertainly, already resigning herself to her decision, _he'll thank me when he's realizes what I've done for him_, she still didn't feel too good about it, but she was really worried; her brother had seemed so closed-off earlier, and she'd sensed that he wasn't telling them everything.

"Alright… no sense in waiting!" she strode to her door and went out into the hallway, stopping before her little brother's room. She took a deep breath before knocking on his door.

"Danny? Can I come in?" no answer.

She huffed and hesitated before saying slowly, "Danny, I – I know you've just been through something traumatic and – and you don't want to talk about it, but I … want to know what happened. You can tell me…" she drew in a steadying breath, "you can tell me about the … ghost … and what it did."

She stood there for almost a minute before she heard him getting up and dragging his feet to the door. He opened it fraction and peered out at her with a slightly suspicious eyes.

"…You want to hear about the ghost?" he asked, the disbelief obvious in his voice.

She blinked, a little surprised. She hadn't even considered that he wouldn't believe her if she said she was interested. _Of course he wouldn't, that's why I need to get him to trust me!_ She smiled at him, "Well, if you say there was a ghost, Danny, then… then I want to hear about it."

He looked like he was considering it, and for a second she thought he would let her in, but then he looked away from her.

"I already told you what happened. A ghost showed up, insulted dad and tried to kill him. That's all." He said tersely.

She rolled her eyes, "Then how did you get hurt? That wasn't really an accident, was it?"

He pressed his lips into a thin line and shot her an annoyed look, "Yeah, it was. That's what I said."

She sighed. _Obviously he's not going to tell me right away. What was I thinking? Well, I'll just have to let him know I'm available if he wants to talk, _"Okay, Danny." She said kindly, "But you know that I'm here if you need me, right?"

His glare softened and he smiled a little shyly, "Yeah… I know, Jazz. But I'm fine, really!" he added quickly, trying to sound convincing – and failing.

She pretended not to notice how fake his reply sounded, and nodded, hiding her disappointment behind a smile, "Alright, I'll see you at dinner, Danny." He nodded with a tense smile and closed the door as she walked off.

Well, no one said it would be easy, but he was still her little brother. As long as she tried to keep an open mind, she was sure Danny would come to her if he needed her help, now. She just had to hold back on her rejection of ghosts for a while …

She winced. That was going to be hard - with her parents' new invention, the house was sure to be full of ghost talk for a long while …

* * *

Vlad stood in his study, gazing out of his window at the setting sun. The orange rays reflected in his wine-glass, which he had all but forgotten about.

After returning to his castle and calming down, he realized how immature he'd acted that day; his plan had met a slight setback, and as a result he lost all self-control. It was pathetic. He was better than that. And seeing as how the invention Jack and Maddie had wanted to stay at home to work on was easily fixed by having an undersized teenager thrown at it, it was very likely that the pair would have made it to the reunion anyway. His actions had been unnecessary and premature.

But there was a silver lining to his failure. True, he hadn't felt too proud of himself when the boy emerged from the ghost portal as a changed man – or, case being, boy – but that had only been his sympathy whispering in his ear; he knew fully well what the boy would have to go through now, and he felt bad for inadvertently causing his misfortune. _But_ who knew what would have happened if Vlad hadn't come by? The boy might have had the accident anyway, what with Jack's terrible habit of not making sure his inventions are safe. Knowing Jack as he did, he was sure the fool probably placed the 'On'-button _inside_ the damn thing, or something equally idiotic. _Someone_ would have ended up getting hurt – unless Maddie caught the mistake first of course, bless her heart – and in a way it was lucky that it was _this_ boy, for the alternative could have been much worse.

After his accident, Vlad had made several attempts to safely extricate his ghost DNA from his human half, before he had to conclude that it would leave him incomplete, a hollow man, only half of what he was supposed to be; in a way, half of him _had_ died to that damn prototype portal.

In his experiments, he'd exposed tissue from different kinds of creatures – humans included – to the effect of a ghost portal; none of them showed any signs of absorbing the ectoplasmic energy and he was positive that the real, living creatures wouldn't have become hybrids – he even tested it on a few – and he'd realized just how lucky he was to still be even half-alive after the accident caused by Jack's incompetence; he could truly have died _completely_ that day.

He'd never been able to ascertain what quality he held that allowed him to become a hybrid, but it seemed like the boy held the same one. If anything, he was even luckier; it had taken Vlad's body a long time to get accustomed to his new DNA, and his ghost half had taken almost as long to develop fully. But the boy had turned into his ghostly self immediately.

_Perhaps it was simply the excess of ectoenergy,_ Vlad thought to himself, _it was much more energy than my body was put through_.

But the fact remained that Jack had managed to create another hybrid, once again by unhappy accident. Even if it had kept Vlad from making a horrendous mistake by killing Jack instead of following his plans, it had also complicated them; he'd thought that he could hide his halfa-status from Maddie when they married, but with the boy now sharing his condition, the child was sure to realize the truth at some point, no matter how hard Vlad tried to mislead him. And besides… Vlad had to admit that he wasn't completely sorry for the boy's situation. The idea of training the young hybrid and passing on his experience was interesting. He'd never cared much for having an heir before, but now the thought seemed very enticing.

But how to go about it? The boy would surely be wary around him at best, screaming and murderous at worst (although he didn't seem especially violent). _Well, at least he'll be wary around my ghost half – but my human half could approach him without risk._

Vlad smiled at the thought, and he wondered how he would go about that. Should he make an excuse to visit the Fentons before the reunion? Perhaps he could insist on helping the boy's parents with their faulty invention? But no, the portal was working now, so that would be a short visit, and it might put his plans for the reunion off-course, and besides, the boy would surely be a little out of sorts, what with his species having been changed just recently. If he wanted to get to know the boy, now was certainly a bad time.

_I suppose I will have to wait till after the reunion, _he sighed before a smirk tugged on his lips, _but that doesn't mean that I can't keep an eye on the little badger…_

* * *

**A/N: I don't care what anyone says, Jazz is a true Fenton – haven't you noticed how she treats the ghosts? Condescendingly and with a superior attitude – and she can kick ass when she really puts her mind to it. She's just not very interested in that. At least she wasn't until Danny had his accident.**

**On Vlad's thoughts, I can only say; it's VLAD. Of course he's blaming Jack, what did you expect?**

**So, your thoughts on Jazz and Danny's interaction? Is it unrealistic? I'm afraid I may have pushed it a bit; I thought about having her come to her realization over a few days, but I'm not sure how much I want to focus on Jazz's inner musings in the coming chapters, so there. We also definitely need more action in this phanfic.  
**


	3. Seedling

Another Way

Chapter 3: Seedling

* * *

Danny trudged down the halls of Casper High, ignoring the occasional shove from the other teenagers on their way to class as he pushed through the crowd to get to the cafeteria, a near-permanent frown set on his face. He'd been worrying about his accident throughout most of the night, when he wasn't falling halfway through his bed or suddenly losing a limb – he had a few seconds of panic before he realized that his hand had just gone invisible – and he was feeling the effects of his lack of sleep.

He'd hoped that whatever had happened to him was temporary, perhaps a crazy but scientifically explainable side-effect from the ghost portal which would wear off on its own. But it hadn't; in fact, his symptoms only seemed to get worse as he got more upset, so he'd been trying to calm down all morning in the hope that he wouldn't have an embarrassing ghostly mishap at school.

He suddenly felt a hand clasp his shoulder and he turned his head to see a pair of dark eyes and a wide smile belonging to his best friend, Tucker Foley.

"Hey, Danny, why so glum, dude?" the Afro-American boy asked with a grin, "Did your parents blow up your bed again?"

Despite his dark mood, Danny couldn't help but laugh at that, "No, they've made sure the lab is properly insulated since then… and it didn't blow up, Tuck, it caught on fire."

"Because god knows, the devil is in the details…" another voice said, as a pale, black-haired Goth girl joined them.

Danny quirked an eyebrow at her, "There's a big difference, Sam. If it just blew up, dad could maybe put it back together, but being burned to a crisp makes that a no-go."

Sam rolled her amethyst eyes with a smirk, "Yes, we all mourn the loss of your bed, Danny."

"Hey, I finally got it the way I wanted it. Took me a few years to dig that groove in it." He quipped back.

"I'm sure Sam wanted to see that groove, Danny." Tucker wiggled his eyebrows at the other two. Danny looked confused, while Sam's face grew red.

"Sam's seen my bed before, Tuck, you guys come over to visit all the time." Danny said, not really sure what joke his friend was trying to make.

Sam gnashed her teeth as she glared fiery daggers at the boy, "Tucker. Shut. Up."

Danny looked between his two friends for a moment before he shrugged, deciding that this was one of those arguments that only Sam and Tucker could understand. The two were as different as night and day and would often get into fights over things that the rest of the school thought were meaningless. Even Danny didn't always understand what they were on about, and he basically hung out with them every day.

He sighed as he turned his tired eyes to the floor, "Well, I didn't get much sleep tonight anyway, so I suppose it wouldn't really have mattered if my bed came out the bad end of a grill."

Sam's eyebrows came together in concern, "Why couldn't you sleep, Danny?"

"Yeah, dude, did you stay up all night playing Doomed? And why didn't you tell me?!" Tucker exclaimed, obviously feeling left out.

"If only. No, there was an accident in my parents' lab yesterday." he explained.

Sam's eyes widened, "What? Did anyone get hurt?"

Danny flinched and threw a look at her before focusing on the cafeteria doors, which were finally coming into view, "N-no, no one got… hurt." he stammered pathetically.

Sam obviously didn't believe him, as she sent him a suspicious look, but Tucker was completely oblivious to the badly concealed lie, "That's good, but then why couldn't you sleep? Did you have to help your parents clean up the echogoop or whatever?"

"That's _ecto_-goop – whatever_ that_ is – and no, that's not what happened. I was just a little… upset, I guess." at their questioning looks he finally sighed and slumped his shoulders before looking back up at the two of them, "Okay, okay. You're gonna think I'm mental, but whatever, half the school already thinks I am, anyway."

"Danny, you're stalling." Sam huffed and scowled at him.

He grinned, "Heh, yeah, sorry. It's just that… yesterday, when my dad and I were in the lab, we were … attacked by a ghost."

He waited for them to laugh or tell him he needed to see a doctor – as Jazz had insinuated several times during dinner – but they just stopped in the hallway and stared at him with open mouths and wide eyes.

"Uh… guys? You still with me?" he joked, unsure of what to make of their reactions.

Then Tucker blinked before giving him an incredulous look, "A ghost? What do you mean you were attacked by a _ghost_?"

"Exactly what I said," Danny replied, feeling both annoyed at the expected reaction of disbelief and relieved that his friend had finally snapped out of his shock.

"But ghosts don't _exist_."

Danny glowered at him, "Believe me, I know they're not supposed to exist. But there was one in my basement yesterday evening."

"How do you know it was a ghost?" Sam sudden piped up.

Danny blinked at her, "Uh … because I saw it?"

Sam rolled her eyes impatiently, "But you don't know what a ghost looks like, right? So how do you know it was a ghost? Was it transparent, intangible, white and glowing?"

Danny frowned and turned his eyes thoughtfully towards the ceiling, "Well, it was flying, and glowing…" he looked her in the eyes, "but he seemed pretty solid to, now that I think about it. He actually looked more like a vampire," he shuddered as he remembered the sharp teeth, the manic smile and those red, mad eyes.

Sam smiled, "So, obviously it was a vampire that attacked you then. Not a ghost." she started towards the cantina again, the two boys hurrying to follow her.

He gaped at her, "What, seriously?"

She scoffed, "No, Danny, it couldn't have been, because _vampires don't exist either._" Tucker snorted in response as they walked.

He groaned in annoyance, "Look, would you guys please listen? I'm telling you there was a – _something_ – in the lab. And I'm _sure_ it was a ghost."

"How can you be sure?" Tucker asked curiously.

Danny shrugged, "Well, I just can." he wasn't about to tell them that he knew because the ghost's appearance had been eerily similar to his own 'ghost self' – and in some way, he just _knew_ that he wasn't 'alive' in that form. _ I suppose a vampire is technically dead, too,_ he mused to himself, but he didn't really believe it. Something told him that it was a ghost – perhaps it was the cold core that he could still feel in his chest, pulsating with a power that had nothing to do with biological life; despite being _him_ as much as his current form was, it felt almost completely removed from his living, human self.

He pinched his eyes shut and shook his head, _no, I can't think like that. I'm human, totally, fully human. I'm not something else, it'll go away…_ the core in his chest thrummed in response and seemed to fade even further as he willed it more strongly to the back of his mind, although it still remained, emitting a soft and comforting sense of coolness.

"Danny? Hello-o?" he suddenly noticed that they'd stopped again, and that Tucker was waving a hand in front of his face with a bemused expression. When Danny focused on him, the dark-skinned boy pushed his glasses further up his nose as he gave him a worried look, "Dude, we thought you got possessed by a ghost or something."

"Ah, no, I was just… thinking." the memory of the blue-skinned ghost popped into his mind again and he took a deep breath, trying to hide his anxiety.

Apparently he didn't do so well with that, because Sam put a comforting hand on his shoulder and asked him seriously, "Danny, were you really attacked by a ghost?"

He looked up at her, and realized that both she and Tucker were looking at him in a way that told him they were going to believe whatever he said. He smiled appreciatively, "Yeah. It kept talking like it knew my dad and it seemed like it only came to try to kill him." Sam and Tucker gasped and he hurriedly waved his hands dismissively, "Don't worry, he's fine. The ghost left before he got really hurt."

Sam lifted an eyebrow, "But if it came to kill him, then why did it give up?"

Danny wondered at that. With all that had happened to him, he hadn't thought about why the ghost was suddenly gone, when it had seemed so insistent on murdering his dad last he saw it. It had even ignored him and thrown him into the portal… _hold on, how'd I get into my bed in the first place?_ He realized that he couldn't remember how. He'd been in pain, and he vaguely recalled threatening the red-eyed spectre afterwards, but it had only stared at him like he was a rare kind of animal. _I must have been in my … _ghost form_. That's why it stared at me like that. Wait a minute… is that why it left? But why would it leave because I turned into a ghost? _ He rubbed his temples in confusion. Had the ghost put him in his bed? But _why_? Hadn't it just tried to kill his dad? It was even the ghost's fault that he turned into a ghost himself, for heaven's sake! Even without the whole 'bone-searing agony and turning into a spectral entity'-thing, he could still have been hurt when he got thrown into that portal! He wasn't even quite sure that he was still … _no, it wouldn't just start to care about my wellbeing all of a sudden. Maybe I was just so groggy from the accident that I don't remember going to bed._

He shrugged noncommittally, "I don't know. I got shocked by the ghost portal and when I woke up, he was gone. Mom and Jazz came home a few minutes later."

"Wait, what ghost portal?!" Tucker exclaimed.

"You were shocked unconscious?!" Sam cried, "As in _electrocuted_?! You said no one got hurt!"

Danny bit his lip and looked at her sheepishly, "Ah-ha, yeah, well, I wasn't _seriously_ hurt…?" he tried, only for her to scoff and scowl at him, as though him getting injured and not telling her was a personal insult.

"Yeah, yeah, Danny's fine, Sam." Tucker interrupted impatiently before he focused his attention on Danny, "_So,_ what was that about a ghost portal?" he asked eagerly.

Danny blinked at him before catching on, "Oh, right. Remember how I told you guys that my parents have been working on something big for, like, two months now? Well, when I got shocked by it, it turned on for some reason, even though they couldn't figure out what was wrong with it."

Sam forgot her indignation and stared at him, wide-eyed, "You mean it _works?_ It's a real, working _ghost portal_?" she nearly whispered, dumbfounded.

He grimaced, "I don't know if it works or not. Even though they spent so long on that invention, they told Jazz and I not to play around with it. I don't know why they wouldn't try it out, since they spent so long on it in the first place, but seeing as I've actually seen a ghost now, I don't see why it shouldn't work."

Sam seemed to be in awe of the prospect, "_Wow_, guys. Don't you get what this means?"

"That the monster under my bed when I was ten was real?" Tucker asked in an honest reply, voice slightly pitched, making Sam roll her eyes in hidden amusement.

"_No_, Tucker. It means that there's probably a whole ghost realm, and that insinuates that the supernatural actually exists! Oh, I have so many books on old legends about ghosts, I wonder…"

"Uh, it's called a ghost zone, not ghost realm, apparently." Danny corrected without much conviction.

Sam blinked at him, "Why would you call it a _zone_? That doesn't make sense."

He held his hands up in defeat, "Hey, I don't know. You could ask my dad yourself."

He was surprised when she smiled at him and said, "That's a great idea! Tucker and I'll come home with you and see the portal."

He frowned at her, "Are you sure, Sam? We were just assaulted by a ghost, it may not be all that safe at home, you know? If that portal works, it may just let in more ghosts…"

Sam's eyebrows flew up, "Don't tell me it's been open since yesterday?" when he gave her a blank look, she sighed, "What are your parents thinking, jeez…"

Danny chuckled, "Now you sound like Jazz." then he matched her sigh, "But she doesn't believe that we were attacked by a ghost. She thinks that someone broke into the house and that I'm hallucinating from the shock."

"Then what about your dad?" Tucker asked.

"What about him?" Danny said in confusion.

"He was there too, right? How does she explain that he thinks it was a ghost, too?"

Danny laughed humourlessly, "Tucker, it's _my dad_. If he's not constantly talking about ghosts, he's making ecto-weapons to use against them. I'm not even sure _I_ would believe him if I hadn't seen it myself." he blushed and scratched the back of his neck when his friends laughed.

"I imagine Jazz spent all day trying to get your parents to change careers _– again_?" Sam asked with a knowing smirk.

But Danny shook his head, "No, actually she hasn't said a word about ghosts since. She glared at mom and dad at dinner and kept insinuating that I should go see the school psychiatrist, but apart from that, nothing."

Sam looked incredulous, "That doesn't sound like Jazz."

"Yeah, and it gets weirder. She even drove me to school today!" he exclaimed, waving his hands above his head for emphasis.

"Wow, something must be seriously wrong with her if she's willing to be seen with you. Someone might think you're related." Tucker said in a tone of mock seriousness, but the corners of his mouth curled upwards.

Danny slumped and scowled at his friend, "Very funny, Tucker." he grumbled as they moved to get their lunch, only to stop as Tucker let out a strangled cry.

"Wh-what is this?" Tucker breathed fearfully and although Danny thought he was overreacting, he couldn't help but want to ask the exact same question - though preferably with less stammering.

Instead of the usual burgers, fries and sparse salads available for lunch, it seemed like all of the serving trays were filled with grass and mud. For a moment, he wondered if the biology class had confused the food with garden fertilizers – the school menu sure didn't taste much better – but when he saw the satisfied smirk and relaxed expression on his Gothic friend he got a sinking feeling in his stomach.

_Oh, now she's done it…_

"Where is all the _meat_?!" Tucker cried, sounding more panicked than Danny had been when he suddenly realized he had glowing eyes and didn't need to breathe anymore, "What has happened here?!" he finally noticed Sam's smile and turned on her, eyes vivid, "What did you do?!"

Sam smiled wider and her eyes half-closed in triumph, "I convinced the school board to try a new menu. It's much healthier than our usual options, and it's recyclable!" She added the last part with a barely suppressed chuckle and waved a hand towards the banner above them, which clearly stated that this week was 'Ultra Recyclo-vegetarian' week. Danny's stomach dropped as he saw Tucker's expression - this meant war.

He sighed and went to the lunch lady with a tray, deciding to try it out before chucking it into the trashcan. She slammed what looked like grass on a bun onto his tray and he eyed it sceptically. He didn't mind Sam's lifestyle – he even found it somewhat impressive on some level – but he doubted _anyone_ could live off of _this_.

Tucker was still staring at Sam lividly, but when Danny came back towards them with his new, Ultra Recyclo-vegetarian meal on his tray, he stared at it in alarm. Sam nodded approvingly at Danny when she saw his meal, but Danny only lifted a bemused eyebrow, projecting a silent _well, it's not like there's anything else to choose from, now is there?_ at her. She simply shrugged at his look.

"Don't you think this is a little _extreme_, Sam?" he asked her cautiously. He'd been in the middle of one of Sam and Tucker's arguments before and he wasn't keen on trying that again. He purposely avoided eye contact with his bespectacled friend, not willing to be drawn into a 'whose-side-are-you-on'-argument again.

"Well, yes. It's supposed to include other kinds of food, but I think the staff took the chance to shift the funds from the student's lunch to their own,"

Tucker seemed to forget about his anger with her for a moment, "What, you mean that rumour about the teacher's all steak-buffet is true?"

She growled, though Danny could tell her annoyance wasn't him them in particular, "Yeah, why else do you think those meat-lovers would try a vegetarian menu of any kind? Even the salads had animal products in them! I have to pick them out every…" she seemed to shake herself out of her anger as she smirked again, "At least this gives the student populace the chance to sample a different, less harmful alternative to their usual bloody midday meal."

Suddenly Danny felt a strange, cold tingle travel up his spine. It spread from his chest like icy tendrils and made his lungs constrict slightly, before the grip let up, and he let out a misty breath. _Hey, it's not _that_ cold in here, is it?_ He could have sworn the mist had a blue tinge to it, but it had disappeared too quickly for him to get a proper look at it. The cold feeling in his chest remained, however, but it didn't feel jarring or obstructive – if anything it was invigorating and he felt strangely elated. He glanced over at Sam, wondering if she'd felt anything, when he saw someone approaching over her shoulder and froze for a second before he commented, "I don't think the _populace_ appreciates your sample, Sam." He nodded towards the jock behind her and she scowled as she turned and saw who he was referring to.

"_Dash,_" she groaned, "He wouldn't appreciate good food-culture if it slapped him in the face.

A mischievous smile slowly crept unto Danny's face. Tucker, who had cheered up a bit by the idea of an all steak-buffet, looked curious at his expression, "Danny, what are you thinking?"

The smile grew wider, and Danny felt that coldness in his chest spread as he shivered and let out another misty breath, "I'm thinking…" he said slowly, trying not to clatter his teeth as the cold passed his lips, "that it's time that Dash met some culture." He twisted his upper body and brought his arms back, still holding the tray, and before Sam and Tucker could do more than gape at him in shock, he threw the lunch tray straight at the blonde teen and yelled, "Hey, Dash! Look up!"

The result was what you'd expect; one high-strung, screaming athlete, whose attempts to throttle him were only interrupted by the many squealing kids, who apparently took the situation as an excuse to use their new lunch for something it was much more suited for.

Some kid in the back yelled "Garbage fight!" at the top of his lungs, and in a matter of seconds there were bits of mud and buns flying through the air like shooting stars and strewn across the ceiling. By the time Danny had gotten a hold of his friends and pulled them down under the tables, the air was filled with flying grass and screams. "Come on," he said to Sam and Tucker, who were staring at him wide-eyed for what must be the fiftieth time that day.

"Danny, did you really just-?" Sam began.

"Dude, you owned Dash!" Tucker exclaimed, laughing loudly and patting his shoulder.

"What's gotten into you today?" Sam asked, but her tone seemed more impressed than scolding and her eyes were lit with a rebellious fire, "You know you just pissed off the school quarterback, right?"

Danny sent her an uncertain half-smile, "Let's get out of here before anyone sees us," he whispered urgently as he began crawling towards the kitchen. The odd mischievous confidence that he'd felt a moment ago was all but gone, leaving him to wonder if it hadn't been a sudden brain haemorrhage that had inspired him to ignite the impromptu food-fight.

When they were out of sight they got up and dusted off the worst of the mud from the ongoing garbage fight back in the cantina.

"Dude, that was radical!" Tucker was still laughing.

Danny let out a breath, "I bet I'm going to regret this tomorrow," he moaned, "what was I thinking?"

"Uh, guys…" Sam's anxious whisper reached them and they turned around to face her.

"What is it, Sam?" Danny asked warily, afraid that she was going to start scolding them for mistreating her new menu.

"I-it – it's a – a …" she swallowed and gave up on answering him, instead pointing at something behind him. He turned again and his eyes widened in shock.

There, in the school kitchen, stood a woman, dressed in lunch lady-garbs and fussing over the stove, evidently looking for something. They could faintly hear her muttering about sausages with a desperate fervour. But that wasn't what had Sam tongue-tied.

The woman's skin was green, she was glowing and when she turned around towards them with a surprised look in her red eyes, her feet rose to hover several inches above the floor.

Danny stared at her, wide-eyed. This was the second time in as many days that he'd seen a ghost. He'd gone from believing they were only scary stories that his parents obsessed about, to basically meeting them on every corner. _What is happening to my life_? He thought despondently.

He felt a shiver run up his spine and a misty breath escaped his lips. It was the same feeling as he'd felt just a minute before, only stronger this time. _It's her,_ he realized with a start, _it's the ghost. That's what's making my ghost-core so excited…_ and he _felt_ excited, in a way he couldn't remember feeling before; it wasn't a happy feeling, but he felt ready to move, run, _fight_.

He stared at the plump lunch lady-ghost while his insides clenched together in preparation for _something…_

* * *

Sam didn't believe her eyes. Or rather, she _did_ believe them and that was the problem. She knew Danny wasn't a liar, and despite his parents' obsession, he wasn't one to imagine monsters around every corner. And yet it wasn't till she saw this eerie spectre standing in the school kitchen that she truly believed him.

She swallowed when the woman – the ghost – turned her glowing eyes on her for a second. The fact that they were lit like a Christmas tree wasn't what truly unnerved her; it was that feeling they protruded, a glaring aura that pierced her to the bones and made every one of her five senses scream, _This isn't natural! _And yet, it was. Or she was – the ghost, the lunch lady. _Whatever._

The ghost turned so her piercing red stare could encompass all three of them and suddenly broke out into a wide, kind smile that seemed to shock the two boys as much as the girl herself, "Why, children, what are you doing in the kitchen?"

_Well, that was anticlimatic,_ Sam thought to herself; she'd expected… she didn't know what she'd expected, but it definitely didn't involve the ghost being _polite_. _Shouldn't they be, like, vengeful or something?_

Upon not receiving an answer from any of the three, the ghost looked around the worn-down kitchen with mild concern, as though something important was out of place. Then she turned her gaze back to the kids and asked, "Oh, children, I wonder if you could help me. Today's lunch is meatloaf, but I can't seem to find the meat… it is really quite mysterious."

"No it's not," Tucker said suddenly, his fear apparently forgotten at the reminder of what he thought was the greatest betrayal of all times, "_she_ changed the menu! There _isn't_ any meat!" he told the ghost, pointing an accusing finger at Sam who scowled back at him.

At his claim the ghost turned its unnerving stare at her, and the eyes only seemed to become more piercing. Green flames erupted around her with a frightening '_woosh'_ and collected above her head in a flaming inferno. Even as the lunch lady's ghost stared her down, all Sam's shocked mind could register was that the flames didn't seem hot and didn't burn anything. _Huh, _she thought,_ shouldn't that be physically impossible? _

"YOU CHANGED THE MENU?!" She roared, "PETULANT CHILD!"

"Holy-!" Tucker exclaimed in shock as the ghost only seemed to get more riled up.

"THE MENU HASN'T BEEN CHANGED IN OVER _FIFTY YEARS!_" the ghost screamed, completely losing its kindly demeanour from before.

Sam felt a sudden tide of indignation at the ghost and forgot all about the unnaturalness of the situation – and by extension, her own self-preservation – and glared darkly at the enraged entity, "Then it's about time for a change, wouldn't you agree?" she spat with an authoritative tone, which only seemed to ignite even stronger flames around the ghost.

A terrifying head-splitting scream tore through the ghost's throat and Sam swallowed thickly as she realized what she had just done. That ghost was going to kill her, and she had a sinking feeling that there was nothing she could do to defend herself. She took a step back with rapidly widening eyes trained on the formerly-living lunch lady and allowed herself to wonder faintly why anyone would be _this_ obsessed about the lunch menu at a small-town high school, and _post-death_, even.

The ghost lifted its hand and the dishes in the sink glowed green and lifted themselves into the air, hovering there for barely a second before throwing themselves at Sam. She gasped loudly – out of _surprise_, of course, it wasn't like she was _afraid_ – as they neared, and closed her eyes tightly, waiting for the pain of having a dozen porcelain plates ram into her body. When she instead felt a pair of arms around her, she didn't completely register that she'd been pushed out of harm's way before she felt her elbow hit the tiled floor – _hard_.

She let out a strangled cry and held her arm close to her. Even with the shock of the collision tearing through the rest of her body, she heard Danny's frightened voice apologizing profusely. _Did Danny just save me?_ She thought numbly, and then, with a touch of annoyance, _and why is he apologizing for it?_ The pain forgotten, she twisted from where she lay on the cold floor and turned her head towards Danny's voice, only to find that he wasn't looking at her anymore. He was glaring at the ghost with a furious expression that she'd never seen him wear before; but what left her speechless was the glowing green colour of his eyes as he sized up the ghost.

"D-Danny…?" she stammered, not quite sure what to make of this new development.

But Danny seemed to be completely focused on the spectre in the room with them. He pointed an angry finger at it with almost as much stubborn determination as Sam usually showed, "You! Leave us alone!" he cried, but then he blinked and Sam noticed the scary eyes were back to their natural blue as he peered pleadingly up through his fringe at the fiery ghost, "…please?"

Before Sam could roll her eyes at his failed attempt at bravery, the ghost sent another wave of dishes at them. Danny let out a squawk that would have been amusing to her if their lives hadn't been in imminent danger. She quickly got to her feet and shot upwards, throwing all her weight into the jump, pushing both her and Danny to safety. They landed next to Tucker, who was still staring at the female ghost in terror. He seemed to have forgotten how to close his mouth.

Sam got up and shot him an impassive glare before she brought her fist back to deliver a decisive punch onto Tucker's jaw. The boy squeaked and jumped back in surprise, but her impromptu wake-up call seemed to have done its job since he felt well enough to yell angrily at her, "What was _that_ for?!" as he massaged his bruising jaw.

She smirked with more calm than she actually felt at that moment, "_That_ was for sic'ing a vengeful, paranormal creature at me," she chided. Of course, she also had to snap him out of his stupor and could probably have done so more gently, but he couldn't rightly blame her for taking her own revenge for what his thoughtless comment has brought about.

Danny put a hand on each of their shoulders and pushed them slightly further apart with a terrified look in his eyes, "Uh… guys? Could you maybe do this later?" he said, his voice quivering.

Sam glanced over her shoulder at the ghost and her mouth went dry the sight. It was focusing on the stoves by the wall, a green aura lighting them up as they tore themselves away and into a big, bone-crushing, flying formation, and she felt pretty sure that she knew where they were going to land.

"We have to get out of here," she gasped, gripping Danny's wrist without thinking, "It's going to kill us!"

The boys stiffened at those words, as the truth that none of them wanted to admit was forced on them. Tucker swallowed as he stared at the ghost.

"Um, uh, miss lunch lady, we, uh, really liked the old menu, so maybe you could, you know … not kill us?" He squeaked the last bit as the ghost turned its red eyes at him.

Suddenly it relaxed visibly and the flames died down considerably. The ghosts smiled kindly at them as though it hadn't just tried to kill them, "Do you children truly like the menu?" she asked happily.

All three of them nodded quickly, both shocked and relieved that the ghost had calmed down so inexplicably. For a moment, Sam dared to hope that they were going to make it out of there with all their limbs intact.

But then the flaming anger returned to the ghostly Lunch Lady, and she grinded her teeth, apparently even more enraged than before the brief exchange with Tucker, "Then why did you go and change it, you ungrateful brats!" She brought her hands back and then forth in a quick motion, making the stoves fly towards them.

Sam let out a shaky gasp, while Tucker outright screamed and ducked his head, his hands covering his eyes. Then she felt a hand clasp around her forearm before she and Tucker were pulled back towards the wall. She only had time to realize that they were now pinned against a hard place and several flying projectiles when she felt an unsettling cold tingle on her skin, and the wall _passed through her_.

They dropped to the floor of the hallway on the other side, all three still breathing hard from the shock. They heard a loud sound from the other side of the wall as the stoves slammed into it. Sam looked from the floor, to the wall and then to her friends in complete and utter bewilderment. _For the love of all that is dark and unholy, _what just happened? She noticed that though Danny still seemed scared, he was looking significantly less shocked than her and Tucker – and his fearful eyes were on his own hands, which he was clenching and unclenching, as if he didn't recognize them.

_Did Danny do… whatever just happened?_ She thought, but she immediately shoved the thought away. There was no way a human could do something like that. _It must have been the ghost. But why would she save us from her own attack?_

"Danny, 'you alright?" she asked worriedly.

He started, and then looked up at her with wide eyes, nodding unconvincingly and apparently speechless.

She was about to force him out of his shock – preferably in the same way she had helped Tucker out of _his_– when she felt a significant fall in temperature and turned to see the ghost floating out of the wall. It seemed a little surprised at their abrupt exit, but its eyes were still gleaming with its wrath as it turned their fire on Danny and grinded her teeth.

"You~! First you change my menu and then you refuse to accept your fair punishment!" it was clearly readying itself for another attack, so Sam got up quickly and dragged the two dumbstruck boys with her. Before any of them could freeze up again, she pulled them with her as she broke into a run. The ghost followed them with a cry of outrage as they sped down the hallways of the school. When the other students saw the trio and their ghostly pursuer they froze, gaping, for a fraction of a second, before a bespectacled kid with a couple more IQ-points than the rest of them screamed, "It's a ghost! It's going to eat us and possess our computers! Run for you lives!" and the rest of the teens decided to follow the wise, although odd, advise and started running around in circles, screaming for their parents, the teachers, and the ghost busters.

It all served as an excellent distraction for Sam and the two boys, especially since the latter were starting to pant from the exertion of running. Sam sighed as she forced herself to slow the pace, _this wouldn't be a problem if they actually participated in P.E.,_ she thought to herself in annoyance. Spying a janitor's closet to the left of her, she ripped the door open and kicked her friends inside before quickly getting in herself and closing the door, thankful for the Hispanic girl who was standing in the middle of the hallway, pointing and screaming at the ghost, "That apron does _not_ go with green skin!", causing the ghost to frown in confusion.

Sam peeked out of the window in the door, and when she saw the ghost fly by, she decided they were safe enough for the time being and turned around to face Danny and Tucker, who were still on their butts on the floor, looking nervously up at her.

"Don't worry," she told them with a voice so calm one would think she was chased by ghosts regularly, "It's gone." they breathed a sigh of relief at her assurance and sagged their shoulders as they relaxed their tense muscles.

"What _was_ that?!" Tucker cried out a second later, his eyes still panicked even though he was finally starting to calm down.

Sam sent him an impassive look, "Obviously, it was a ghost."

Tucker mouth fell open as he stared at her, before he composed himself and exclaimed, "How do you know it was a ghost?! It was solid and commanding killer dishes of doom! And it was _green_, it could have been an alien!"

Sam scoffed at his last remark, "Why would an alien break into a school kitchen and bother high school students? Besides, it mentioned that the menu had been unchanged for the past fifty years and that's true – it's part of the reason I thought it was about time for something a little different. Why would an alien know that." she shrugged, "And how do I know it was a ghost?" she looked over at the blue-eyed boy, "Well, the same way Danny did yesterday, I suppose. It's like an instinct."

Tucker looked like he wanted to argue, but then he let it drop. Sam suspected he'd known that their attacker was a ghost as well and was simply letting off steam; they'd all been pretty shocked, and if she wasn't so good at keeping calm, she might have been panicking a bit herself.

She looked over at Danny and noticed that he was looking down at his hands again, "Danny," she called, getting his attention, "What happened back there?"

He flinched visibly so even Tucker knew he was hiding something, "Who, me? Happened? Did something happen? I haven't done anything. Nope."

Sam rolled her eyes at his pathetic attempt to lie. She couldn't understand why he even tried when he was so obviously bad at it, "_Danny_, we went from nearly being sandwiched by the wall and several flying stoves, to sitting in the hallway next-door. _Someone_ did that and I think I know _who_."

Tucker frowned, "What are you saying, Sam? That Danny did that? But how could he have?"

"I'm _saying_, Tucker," she began, speaking slowly, "That Danny experienced more than just a simple electrocution yesterday," she winced slightly when she mentioned the electrocution.

Danny bit his lip, "No, Sam, I just got a small shock! It's fine, really! It's not like I've suddenly developed ghost-powers or something," he chuckled nervously.

Sam sighed, "No, but maybe being exposed to the portal caused some sort of temporary effect. Not that I'm complaining; whatever it was saved us."

Danny seemed a little relieved for some reason, "Yeah, I think it did something, but I feel fine now. Whatever it was is gone now." He assured her.

"I don't think something that can make you walk through walls would just disappear like that." Sam insisted, "Have your parents taken a look at you? Maybe you're possessed or something."

Danny's eyes widened and Tucker looked horrified, "Possessed? You mean he's got one of those apron-wearing ghosts _inside him?!_"

"I'm not possessed! … and I didn't walk through any walls!" Danny yelled red-faced.

"Calm down guys," Sam said in a bored voice. She was used to these kinds of 'arguments' and knew that they weren't going to start making more sense at any point, "I was just suggesting an explanation. Besides, Danny doesn't seem murderous or has glowing eyes," she sent the boy a confused look when he looked away, "so I think he just needs to have his parents check him out, even if it wasn't Danny who got us out back there. If there's a ghost inside him, I'm sure they'll get it out and 'rip it apart, molecule by molecule!'" she smiled when she referenced her friend's father, but faltered when she saw his expression. He looked positively nauseous and had his face screwed up strangely, "You sure you're alright, Danny?"

He nodded too quickly and forced an obviously fake smile on his face, "I'm fine Sam. I'll ask my parents when I get home. Yep. When is class starting, by the way?"

She cocked an eyebrow at him, "Uh, class started ten minutes ago."

"Drat! Then what are we still doing here?"

"Dude, were you not here a few minutes ago?" Tucker piped in, "When we were about to become minced meat?"

"Oh, right." he grinned sheepishly, "Well, we should get going now, right?"

Sam rolled her eyes. Sometimes she didn't understand why she put up with these knuckleheads. Although she was pretty sure Danny was just trying to turn her attention away from his ghost-problems.

"A big part of Casper High's student body just saw a ghost rampaging through the halls. I doubt we're going to have any classes for the rest of the day, even if no one got hurt. Which reminds me…" she smirked, "You may not have to wait until you get home to talk to your parents, Danny?"

Her smile seemed to make her friend nervous, "… why not, Sam?"

Her smile grew into a creepy grin, "Well, your parents _are_ the best known ghost hunters – in town at least - … who do you think they're going to call after this?"

Danny looked more panicked than when the Lunch Lady had burst into flames.

* * *

Danny was ready to die –or, at least crawl into a very deep hole and fill it in afterwards, so no man could find him. It had taken the school all but ten minutes to declare martial law (or the high school equivalent in any case) and demand that all students evacuate to the auditorium (an order which was unanimously ignored, until Mr Lancer locked the front doors and threatened any deviants with a month-long detention) and another ten minutes before his parents had arrived, waving ectoguns and bright, maniacal smiles around the room.

Although most students had gone into a state of complete panic upon seeing – or hearing of – the ghost, it had taken them a remarkably short time to settle into their usual mindset of ignoring everything around them and looking bored. A few were still discussing the Lunch Lady, but the rest just seemed peeved that they had to suffer through both Lancer's and the Fentons' speeches before they were allowed to skip school and go to the Nasty Burger and pass out from overindulgence of Nasty Sauce.

His mother stood at the podium, holding the mike with an intense expression, looking for the entire world like a general about to warn her troops of an incoming alien invasion, "Students of Casper High! Today you suffered a ghost attack!" she began, making Danny groan in resignation.

_Oh really, I didn't notice_. He knew his sarcasm wasn't fair, but the situation was getting to him.

"Studies show that these ectoplasmic entities are _pure evil_! But don't worry, children, as long as you follow the ghost-invasion guidelines, you'll be just fine." his mother sent them what was supposedly a reassuring smile, but she simply looked like she was out of her mind, standing there in the dubious lighting of the podium, dressed in a full-body hazmat-suit and red goggles with a matching ectobazooka held loosely in her hands.

"Yeah, we'll get that spooking spectre, kids, dontcha worry about a thing!" his dad cut in, lifting his gun and accidentally letting off a beam right into the audience. The kids screamed and ducked to avoid the green light and instead it hit the wall behind them, leaving a black scorch mark.

His dad blinked as the room fell quiet. His eyes fell to his gun before popping back up to the damaged wall with a goofy grin, "'Guess I must have turned off the safety by accident,"

His wife glared at him before turning back to the mike, "If you see a ghost, you must find a place to hide – don't try to fight them without the proper weapons or defences! Jack and I intend to make a club for young ghost-hunters-to-be," she and her husband shared bright smiles, "but until then you should all be careful of these unnatural phantasms. If you have any questions, you can ask us – or one of our children, Jazz and Danny!" She suddenly started scanning the crowd for her kids and Danny felt a sudden dread fill him at the prospect of being pointed out by his coddling mother in front of the whole school.

The world seemed to slow as every head stared turning towards him. He'd sat in the very back for exactly this reason, but it seemed to do very little to hide him from the other students' eyes. He slumped in his seat and blushed, wishing with all his heart that he was somewhere else. Right before the first set of eyes found him, he felt a coldness emanate from his core and envelop the rest of his body, leaving him feeling strangely non-existent.

When the teen sitting in the row before him turned around, fully expecting to find the Fenton-freak sitting between his two friends, he frowned in confusion, his eyes skimming over the area as though he couldn't see him.

_That's it,_ Danny thought in shock, _he _can't_ see me. I'm invisible._ He realized that his new ghost core had somehow responded to his wish, hiding him from the condescending eyes of the Casper High students. Sam and Tucker had been doing their best not to look at him when his parents called his name, but noticing how the other students' gazes skipped them, they chanced a look in Danny's direction. Both lost their cool appearance when they couldn't find him, and the blue-eyed boy saw them exchange a glance through him –_god, this is so weird._

A wave of exhaustion hit him suddenly and he barely bit back a groan. _Why am I feeling so tired all of a sudden_? He thought, but then he felt his core shiver slightly, not unlike a heart under duress, and he realized that the strain of keeping himself invisible was too much for his young core. _Maybe it's not so surprising; it didn't exist before twelve hours ago, after all._

"Danny?" he heard Sam whisper as she looked around them and Tucker checked under the seats. The boy, still hunched forward on his seat, met the Goth's worried eyes.

"'You think he went through the floor, like with the wall in the kitchen?" he asked her in a whisper, horror evident in his voice, "What if he's falling towards the centre of the Earth as we speak? I don't want to lose my best friend! Who am I going to play Doomed with?!" his voice was steadily rising and Sam shushed him.

"Quiet, Tucker, don't give us away. Besides, there's a basement. I'm sure he's fine." she added, her calm voice at odds with the frown on her face.

At the podium, his parents had apparently given up on finding him at were instead bothering his sister, who had been foolish enough to sit in the front row. He could hear his dad's enthusiastic voice and her clipped answers.

Danny felt dizzy. He was feeling an all-consuming need to change into his ghost form, but the thought of being a full ghost frightened him; what if he couldn't change back? What if he was _stuck_ like that, a simple ghost that his parents would hunt and his friends would look at with terror, like when they met the Lunch Lady… but he couldn't ignore it any longer. He'd been trying since last night, forcing his body to stay human – _living_ – instead of turning. But it was growing harder with every second, especially after he activated his core earlier in order to save the three of them from the crazed ghost. But now, having his core continuously active to keep him invisible, he knew that he couldn't keep it up much longer. His core was starting thrum with an unpleasant warmth – _probably because I'm losing so much energy_ – but what was worse was that his human body was responding as well; his heart was beating a faster, a little out of rhythm, and his breathing was becoming laboured. He had to change before he was either forced to, or passed out from the exertion of fighting it.

_But I can't change here!_ He thought frantically, his eyes darting around the room, settling on his parents who had gone into a long speech about the devious nature of ghosts, Mr Lancer, looking shocked and his friends, who had gone quiet with worry. _They'll see me if I stay here. I have to get out, but how?_

The answer came to him quickly however, and he closed his eyes, trying to remember what he had felt when he walked through the wall earlier; how his core had responded to his urgent request. Slowly, he got out of his seat and opened his eyes, his gaze flickering to Sam before the growing discomfort in his chest forced him forward.

Walking through people felt completely different from passing through stone; the wall had just been an object, something that was inconveniently placed in his path. Passing through humans was… different. In one way, it felt exactly like the wall, a collection of mass that he chose to ignore for his convenience, but there was something else too; something like a force, meeting his core when he walked through it. It didn't try to stop him; in fact, he was pretty sure that it couldn't. But it felt his presence, and he could sense its panic as his signature passed through it, like a deer caught in headlights. The teens he passed through shivered and wrapped their arms around themselves protectively.

"Did it just get colder in here?"

"Someone should fix the air-conditioning…"

"We have an air-conditioner?"

The experience, although not really unpleasant to him, was extremely off-putting, and he increased his speed, leaving the rows behind him and phasing through the auditorium doors, hoping he could make it to the toilets to change, before his new core forced him to.

* * *

***(Aargh, I always mess up on the linebreaks the first time I make them!)***

**A/N: I really didn't expect this chapter to become this long. It's not even finished yet! When I realized that I was only about halfway through, I decided to cut it in half; mostly because, at the pace I'm going,** **it's going to be a while before the next part is done, and I think you readers deserve to get something after a month :/ in my defence, I had a school assignment** **that took a bit too long to complete, hehe.**

**Thank you all for the reviews! Oh, and;**

** DarkSeer: I hope I didn't butcher it! :)**

**As usual, I'd be happy with any kind of critique, but here are a few things I've been wondering about;**

**Is the story going too fast or too slow? Are the characters OOC (Out of character)? Are the descriptions too long?**

**Thank you for reading!**


	4. Trust

Another way

Chapter four: Trust

* * *

Getting into the Fenton house had been surprisingly easy.

Jack and Maddie worked at home, so he had thought that he would be forced to act as the vengeful spectre in order to lure them away long enough for his double to plant his cameras and listening devices. He could easily turn invisible and sneak inside, but he was worried that they had ghost-detectors set up around the building. They hadn't worked the day before, obviously – although he wouldn't have cared either way in his agitated state – but he knew how fast his old college friends worked, and now that they knew how an actual ghost looked, he fully expected them to have fixed their inventions.

But in the end there was no reason to do anything; he'd barely arrived before the couple came rushing out their front door, shouting something about a ghost at the school. He was instantly worried that Daniel had gotten himself into trouble – for he was surely the only ghost in Amity Park – but he decided to continue with his plan before he followed them to check up on the school; his new project may have gotten itself into trouble it couldn't handle. It wouldn't surprise him; the boy had only just turned and he was surely confused and suffering from a lack of control of his powers. His own had been completely chaotic for a long while as his core grew and matured, only finding some stability after he'd learned to control his new abilities.

After his sweep of the house, he left for Casper High. At first he found the school empty, but he soon realized that all of the occupants were holed up in the auditorium, listening to some longwinded nonsensical speech from Jack. Vlad had grown tired of hearing his kind being described as 'primitive ectosavages' pretty quickly, and tried to find the man's son amongst the rows of teenagers instead. This proved near impossible, though, as the boy seemed to have a talent for blending into the background. A useful trait to hide his secret, certainly, but endlessly annoying when Vlad was trying to locate him. _Good thing I already installed those cameras. Although I should probably set up some in the school, as well, come to think of it…_

Just as he was starting to give up hope of finding him, he noticed how several students near the back row where muttering and shifting on their seats. Recognizing the effects of being passed through by a ghost and the fact that the phenomenon seemed to migrate in a straight line towards the double doors of the auditorium, Vlad grinned and followed the unseen teenager out into the hall. He wondered why the boy didn't simply fly out of there, instead of passing through his classmates, but then realized that he might not even be aware of the ability yet. That he was displaying such control of his powers already was quite an impressive feat.

As soon as he was out in the hallway, the boy dropped his invisibility and, panting slightly, moved down the hall. Vlad frowned at the staggering teen. Was he having problems because of his core? The boy seemed almost in pain. Vlad's ghost form and his human self hadn't been able to coexist at first, and as such he had episodes of extreme confusion and pain in the first few months of his transformation, but the boy didn't exhibit any of the symptoms he'd had, like body parts randomly changing to their ghostly counterparts. But then he'd only been observing him for a couple of minutes; even if he'd managed to keep his status a secret from the rest of the school – and judging by Jack's unchanged attitude, his family – he could still have had accidents. Even if his transformation was smoother than Vlad's, he must surely be having _some_ difficulties…

The boy entered a bathroom, passing through the doors on his second try. Vlad floated in his wake with a grin on his face. _That was well done for his first day as a hybrid, I suppose._

As soon as he popped his head through the door, he saw the boy straightening his back and close his eyes with an expression of intense concentration. A ring of light appeared around his midriff and split in two, gliding up and down his body to leave his ghost form in its place. He opened one eye and glanced at himself in the mirror, his body still tense. When he'd assured himself that everything was in its proper place, he drew a breath of relief and moved closer to the mirror.

Vlad wasn't confused by this in the slightest. When he'd just been changed, he had been forced into his ghost form more often than not, much to his dismay. He was relieved that the boy seemed to have an easier time controlling his transformations than he'd had; it meant he could probably let the boy stay in Amity Park for a while, at least, before convincing him to move to his castle in Wisconsin. It might even be beneficial to let the boy stumble through hybrid-life on his own for a while – that way he would know the value of what Vlad could offer him, when he finally made his proposal – and by then he would be righteously angry with his father for turning him into a ghost-human-hybrid and realize that the man deserved whatever Vlad would do to him. Perhaps he could even convince his mother… but he would have to wait and see how things turned out.

Not that he was going to leave the boy alone completely, of course. He would make sure the boy knew he could turn to him for help with his powers if he needed it.

The young hybrid was staring at his reflection with trepidation. He ran a hand through his white hair slowly, pulling his fringe taut, his eyes crossed to stare at the strands. When he stuck out his tongue, Vlad couldn't help but laugh out loud. The boy spun around towards the sound, eyes wide as he searched the bathroom for the still invisible Vlad.

As he smirked and became visible, the boy let out a cry of shock and stumbled backwards, falling to the floor. He stared up at Vlad with no little amount of fear and Vlad almost – _almost _being the keyword – felt bad about frightening him. But fear was not too far from respect, and it would hopefully make the boy more compliant if he was afraid of him.

"Should I leave you and the mirror alone, little badger?" he asked in an amused voice.

The other hybrid gaped at him for another second before he said, "I-It's you… the ghost!" still sitting on the floor of the restroom in his ghost form.

"How very observant of you! It is rather rude to refer to someone by their species, son." He commented, lifting an eyebrow in mock disapproval.

The boy blinked in surprise at his civil response. He had no doubt expected Vlad to attack him like some mindless monster. Then he bristled and exclaimed, "Well, it's not like I know your name! ... do ghosts have names?" he mumbled the last part and his fear seemed to subside a bit as he considered that.

Vlad's smile was all confidence and pride as he looked down at the boy from his position several inches above the floor, "Most do, I assure you. My name happens to be _Plasmius,_" he said with a mock bow, his red and white cape flowing around him with the motion, "It is a _pleasure_ to meet you in earnest, my dear boy."

The gesture had the anticipated effect. The boy swallowed and got to his feet slowly, watching the older hybrid for any sign that he was going to attack, "Plasmius? That's a strange name. But not for a ghost!" he added quickly at the look on Vlad's face.

Vlad scoffed, "Think what you will. When someone gives you their name, it is considered polite to give them your own," his eyebrow shot up expectantly, "so let us get the pleasantries out of the way, shall we?"

"Uh, right. My name is Danny…" the boy mumbled. Vlad smiled at how uncomfortable he looked. His first instinct when meeting a ghost would be to flee – at least, his _human_ instinct would be. His new ghost side, however, would size up the interloper to determine if he was a threat to his 'territory'. Since his core had barely even started to develop, the boy was probably very confused by the mixed signals his human and ghostly sides were sending him, which was the only reason the boy had neither tried to run away nor attack him – yet.

He was going to take advantage of that so he could have a conversation with the boy. "Is that short for Daniel?" he asked the hybrid.

"Uh, yeah, it is?" Daniel sent him a suspicious look.

_That's a good name,_ Vlad mused before smiling at the boy, "There's no need to be so afraid of me, Daniel. I'm not going to bite."

Daniel glanced at his fangs and grimaced, obviously not putting his faith in that statement, "I prefer Danny, you know."

Vlad ignored him, "So, _Daniel_, how are you, hmm? I imagine today must have been quite interesting for you, considering your little accident during our first meeting …"

The boy narrowed his eyes as he seemed to remember that Vlad was supposed to be his enemy, "If you by 'accident' mean when you threw me into the portal…!" he started, only to be cut off by a wave of Vlad's hand.

"I am truly sorry for that, my boy. I did not expect your idiot of a father to have such a volatile experiment out in the open like that."

"That wasn't dad's fault!" the boy insisted.

Vlad rolled his eyes, "Really? Let me guess; he hadn't shielded the powers cords properly, and your fall messed up the system?"

Daniel's eyes fell to the floor as he muttered, "Actually, the … On-button was on the inside…" Vlad's eyes widened. Of course he'd thought of that possibility, but he'd dismissed it, believing Jack couldn't possibly be _that stupid. _ his old college buddy never ceased to amaze.

He sighed and closed his eyes, "Of course, he couldn't possibly make a portal without ensuring that _someone_ got cursed… " his eyes snapped open and he focused on the anxious boy again, "but tell me, how are you doing?"

The boy stared at him, "Doing? Do you mean how I'm doing after you turned me into a ghost?!"

Vlad sighed dramatically, "Those aren't the words I would have used, but in essence, _yes_. This must all be terribly new to you, my boy. I was worried about you."

Daniel shook his head with an incredulous humph, "You were worried about me? Why would you be? You tried to kill my dad!" He glared at Vlad and the intensity in those green eyes was burning.

"That is between your father and I. Trust me when I say it isn't undeserved."

"What could he possibly have done to deserve having a raging ghost on his tail?!"

Vlad's eyes flared and his voice was shrill with anger as he yelled, "He cost me my _life_!"

Daniel's eyes widened and he looked at the older hybrid in shock, "Your life? You don't mean that he…"

Vlad closed his eyes and forced himself to be calm, "Not on purpose, if that's what you mean. But his foolishness cost me everything, nonetheless."

When he opened his eyes, Vlad saw the look of pity, mixed with disbelief on the boy's face. Clearly, he didn't entirely believe that his dad could have caused anyone's death – and Vlad was really only _half_-dead – but Vlad had no reason to lie to him, and his death would explain his hatred towards the boy's father.

His expression softened, "But none of this is your fault, son. Your father's sins aren't yours, and seeing as this is partly my fault, I feel like I owe you my assistance."

Daniel blinked, "Assistance? With what?"

He sighed, "My boy, you might have noticed that you are not quite the same as you were yesterday – "

"No kidding."

" – and there is much that you don't know about your new _situation_." he finished with a glare. He hated being interrupted by useless comments, but decided to let it slide.

The young hybrid matched his glare, "So? How are you going to 'assist' me with that?"

Vlad groaned, "Your powers, you idiot child! I can teach you how to use your powers!" he screamed.

The teenager stepped back, alarmed by his sudden moodchange, before his eyes flared up in indignation, "What could you possibly teach me? You're not like me, you're a _full_ ghost!"

The irony in that statement made Vlad smirk in amusement, "Hmm, yes, but the part that I'll be teaching will be your _ghost_-self, son. Surely you don't want to stumble through your adolescence, desperately trying to gain control of your powers? I can _train you_, teach you everything I know."

Daniel frowned in confusion, " … I still don't understand what you could teach me," he said softly, looking down at the floor again, "I mean, what does it even _mean_ to be a ghost? Half-ghost? What am I supposed to do?" his eyes flickered to Vlad's before dropping again as the boy bit his lip.

The old hybrid suddenly remembered his own turning, how confused and hurt he'd been; he'd been turned into a monster by his best friend and then betrayed and forgotten by him. His sadness had turned into wrath, a hunger for justice. But when he talked to the boy about his new abilities, his situation didn't seem as monstrous; in fact, he was starting to feel like the claim of superiority that he'd been holding all these years was actually true.

Vlad's eyebrows came together, perplexed. How could he have forgotten what it was like those first few months? Considering that this was his first day as a ghost-human hybrid, the boy was handling his situation exceedingly well. Althought, that might just be because he didn't know the full extent of what had happened to him; unlike Vlad, he was just a teenager and from his school records, Vlad could conclude that he had very little knowledge of science in general, not to mention biology. He was probably hoping that it was something that would 'blow over'. He would learn.

He wanted to give the boy a taste of what he could teach him, but what could he do to show him how much he would stand to gain by having Vlad's favour? Perhaps…

"Tell me, boy," he said, drawing his attention back to him, "I heard there was a ghost attack at your school… you wouldn't happen to have had anything to do with that, hmmm?"

The boy's eyes went wide at the implied accusation, "What… you don't think I …? I would never hurt anyone! That wasn't me!" he insisted, his astonishingly green eyes flaring.

Vlad grinned, "No, of course you wouldn't, little badger! But that means that another ghost encroached on your territory doesn't it?"

He looked confused at that, "My… territory?"

"This school. It's where you spend most of your day, so one could definitely say that it is part of your territory. If a ghost invades another ghost's home, then it usually means to challenge the other for its territory."

"Yeah, but it's not like I care about having a 'territory' or whatever." the boy shrugged.

Vlad lifted an eyebrow, "You don't understand. These ghosts are going to try and take control of your home – especially because you're here. That's how they work! Their instincts will have them challenge other ghosts for their territory before they think to establish their own. Your _home_ is in danger from them."

Daniel was quiet as he took all of that in. Then he frowned and looked anxiously up at Vlad, who smiled down at him, "So you see, you would benefit from having a mentor. And I'm making myself available to you."

For a moment it looked like he was going to take him up on his offer; Vlad was sure he saw a flicker of something alike respect in the younger hybrid's eyes, but then he looked away with a sour expression, "How can I trust you?" he asked, but it sounded more like a statement, "You tried to kill my dad … and you almost killed me, too! Why would you care about me all of a sudden, just because I've become a ghost?"

His accusation didn't faze Vlad at all. He'd expected the boy to reject his offer from the moment he first thought of it. But he still had to make it, he had to make sure the boy knew that he could and would help; even if he didn't trust him, there would surely come a time when the stress of being alone, a new breed amongst an inferior race, would get to him. At that time he would come find Vlad on his own.

Instead of defending himself or trying to convince the boy further, he shrugged casually and said, "Call it solidarity, if you will. But very well, it's your decision. If you change your mind, I will gladly help you. Until then – ta!" he waved cockily at the boy as he drifted backwards through the wall, the teen's eyes widening at the casual display of his powers.

When he was out in the hallway, Vlad turned himself invisible and flew up and out the roof of the school. He wasn't leaving yet, but he intended to stay out of the boy's way for now. He would be ready when his chance came.

* * *

Danny leaned back against the sink, his hands clamped tightly around its sides. If he had a heart in his current form, it would still be hammering after the visit from the vengeful spectre – or his own personal stalker, I would seem. _Take your pick, they're both equally terrifying._

He sighed and slumped. He was grateful that his ghost form couldn't hyperventilate, but he was still strangely agitated; he'd never been a violent person, quite the contrary really, but whenever he saw a ghost he felt aggressive and possessive. _That's what Plasmius tried to explain to me_, he realized.

It startled him how much he had changed; at first he'd thought the effects were only physical, that he'd simply gained the ability to go invisible and fall through his bedroom floor… but as the day went on, it had become increasingly apparent to him that his mind had been changed as well; when he'd felt the ghost in the kitchens, his core responded with a surge of hostility. He used to shy away from any kind of violence, but now he had to force himself not to engage in it whenever a ghost was near. When the Lunch Lady appeared, he was too confused by his conflicting instincts to make a decision whether or not to attack. Even though her attempt to hurt Sam had almost made the choice for him, he'd faltered at the end.

He groaned and hid his face in his hands. He knew his friends would be worried about him, seeing as he disappeared into thin air – as far they knew – but he just couldn't go back to the auditorium yet. Not only didn't he feel stable enough to go back to his human form yet, but after the conversation he'd just had with the man who wanted to kill his dad, he wasn't really feeling up to pretending that he was still fully and completely human. Not to mention _calm_.

_Man? Since when did he stop being an 'it'?_ he wondered, before sighing, _Since he introduced himself, probably._ He looked around the empty restroom, not even seeing the usual graffiti on walls. _What do I do, if I'm not going back?_ He suddenly remembered Plasmius disappearing backwards out the wall. The action had been unsettling, but he couldn't deny the thrill of excitement at realizing that he was able to do the same, if he wanted to. He'd already gone intangible when he jumped through the wall of the kitchen and when he walked through the rows in the auditorium…

His eyes widened. If he could go intangible and invisible, did that mean that he could _fly_ as well? The promise of that idea almost made his knees weak. Was it really possible? He was eager to try, but he had no idea how; the other abilities had manifested themselves instinctually when he was stressed and he'd been able use them again because he remembered how his core had felt when those powers were active. But he hadn't tried flying yet; would he have to throw himself off the roof to figure out how to use that power? He swallowed. _I'm not sure I want to test that theory,_ he thought, as he started pacing, _besides, what if I can't fly? I'm not really a ghost, after all. I might not have that ability …even if it would be awesome if I did._

He smiled, and his green eyes became unfocused as he imagined flying, only to realize that he really had no idea what it would be like. _It would be awesome, though. Totally._ He frowned. He would have to work it out without the 'trial and potentially deadly error'-part.

He laid a hand on his chest, where he imagined he could feel his core thrumming slightly in response. His abilities had appeared right when he needed them, kept him alive even when he was trying to suppress them. If he actually _wanted_ to use them, he was sure it would be much easier, but then why hadn't he just flown the moment he _wanted_ to?

He shook his head in aggravation. _Maybe I should stop thinking so much and just _do_ it!_ It felt weird to be puzzling out his ghost core like this; he was starting to realize that it really _was_ a part of him now, so trying to figure it out was like speculating on the inner workings of his own mind; something he had no doubt Jazz would have loved, but to him it was simply unnerving to not just _know_ what he was, anymore.

_Darn it, why couldn't Jazz have gotten this? I'm sure she would think it was a great study and it might make her stop chewing out our parents!_ He instantly felt bad about thinking that. Being changed had been extremely painful, and he wouldn't want anyone – much less his annoying know-it-all sister – to go through what he had. _In retrospect, she might have just freaked out,_ he mused, a small smile on his face as he imagined his sister droning on about the psychological effects of being half-killed. That was sure to be a depressing lecture.

He closed his eyes and focused on the quiet hum of his core; he had to stifle a growing dread when he felt its presence expand, the energy coursing through his ghost form. He was still uneasy, but the prospect of what he could possibly do with his powers was exciting.

Even though it didn't currently have a physical form, he could feel his core inside his chest; to his human mind it seemed unnatural and he could almost feel it shying away from his ghosthalf, but seeing as the two were irrevocably tied together, and with the bond only strengthening as his body adjusted to the changes, the fight was becoming less and less turbulent. So when both his living- and non-living-self wanted the same thing – in this case _flight_ – finding the right way to active his ability came easily.

He immediately knew he'd gotten it right when he felt a salving sensation spread across his skin; his aura, which had been dimmed since he transformed earlier, flared with energy, but he barely even noticed as he found what he was looking for in his core. He let his head fall back as the feeling of weightlessness overtook him; it felt so natural, just like breathing in his human form, that he couldn't understand why, or how, he thought it would be difficult just seconds ago. In fact, he realized that he felt much more constricted when he tried to keep himself on the ground.

He opened his eyes and looked down. A wide grin spread slowly on his face when he saw his feet hovering slightly above the floor. It was a strange feeling; his ghost side felt perfectly normal, defying the laws of physics, but his human side kept insisting that what he was doing was impossible. He wobbled in the air, barely keeping his balance as his unsteady feet tried to find purchase unsuccessfully.

_Come on, Fenton, you can do this! Think like a ghost, _be_ the ghost!_ he continued encouraging himself as he tried floating forwards slowly. The small movement immediately threw off his balance and he had to fight frantically to regain it.

When he was somewhat steady again, he took a deep breath – which was weird, when he didn't need to breathe, part of him remarked – and tried again. The process of learning even basic control over himself was long and difficult; it took him several minutes to even be able to move forwards safely, but no matter how hard the journey was, he couldn't help feeling ecstatic that he even had the chance to make it. _Maybe being a ghost isn't so bad._

After mastering staying in the air without rotating around his own axis unwillingly, he decided that the restroom was getting to be too small for his learning curve. His eyes trailed up towards the ceiling, and with a shrug, he floated upwards. It wasn't as difficult to become intangible to go through the ceiling even while he was flying as he had expected it to be, so he picked up speed and moved through the floor above and out through the roof.

Hovering quietly above the school, he gaped in awe at the sight of the school grounds spread out beneath him, as well as the surrounding town. He wasn't nearly high up enough to see the whole city, but he'd never been to the roof of his own school before, so he was yet again stricken by the unreal thought that he was _actually flying_.

He peered up at the blue sky above him and wondered how high he could go, but immediately shoved the thought away; he was barely even able to keep himself from splattering on the sidewalk as it was, so it was probably not a good idea to test his limits just then.

_Maybe another day._

He started floating forwards, slowly at first, but as he got a hang of it, he sped up, his short, white hair whipped back by the winds. Looking down on the ground whizzing past beneath him, he grinned widely, his green eyes shining with excitement.

He got bolder as he zipped through the air and soon he was doing cartwheels and backflips with the acrobatic grace that he'd never had in his human life. A few minutes later found him floating on his back, his arms behind his head. He was no longer afraid that he'd suddenly fall to his death, but he was still uneasy about flying too high or too far from the school. He looked lazily up at the sky with half-lidded eyes and his thoughts wandered to the older ghost.

He felt really conflicted about him; he'd attacked his dad, but maybe the vague reasons he'd given were actually valid? Danny couldn't imagine his dad doing anything to hurt anyone – well, not intentionally anyway – but maybe the ghost was confused? Danny knew his own mind hadn't been completely up speed when he'd just changed – in fact it was still at bit scrambled – so perhaps it would be too far out for a ghost to have mixed things up a little? Besides, his dad didn't seem to recognize Plasmius… Danny rolled his eyes at that thought. _The dude looks like a vampire! There's no way he looked like that in real life. He must have had his appearance changed, like I did._ He scratched his neck. _I only changed colours though. My hair didn't start pointing in weird directions, and I haven't developed a taste for blood… yet._

He jumped up and settled into a sitting position, with his legs crossed and one hand covering his mouth. _Maybe he didn't look like that at first… does that mean that I'm going to change even more than I already have?!_ Discovering his new ability had made him forget his anxiety for a few, precious moments, but now it was coming back to him. He really had no idea what was going to happen to him, or even what _had_ already happened to him. He was discovering new ghostly talents like crazy since he got his powers, who was to say that something worse wasn't going to happen?

He took a deep, shaky breath, momentarily forgetting that he didn't need to. He was seriously considering telling his parents what had happened with the ghost portal, but every time he managed to convince himself to do it, he remembered their battlecries, the way they describe ghosts as 'vermin' – their hatred of ghosts was so great, that he wasn't sure if it would be safe to tell them. It was strange how something he'd taken for granted his whole life now seemed so fragile; and that was what he was really afraid of. Would his parents still accept him if his 'ghost-phase' was permanent? _Even if they do… will they be disappointed? _ He asked himself.

He was looking at the swirling clouds above, his expression solemn, when a hateful cry pierced the silence. He turned on the spot – or, well, _air_ – and stared with wide eyes down at the wraith of the Lunchlady, who was glaring up at him with fire in her eyes – and not just figuratively.

"You! Why are you still here?!" She screamed, "You were the one who ruined my menu!"

He scowled down at her, "To be accurate, that wasn't me. But you tried to kill us! With dishes!" his fists curled at his side, "Do you have any idea how dirty the school dishes are?!"

The ghost gritted her teeth and lifted her hand. From somewhere around the school, something came flying, glowing with a faint green glow. When Danny looked closer, he realized it was _meat_, hauled through the air by some invisible force. As he watched it with disgusted awe, the separate pieces formed into a united mass, forming a squat, four-legged creature. Where the face could have possibly been, had this been a real creature, a mouth and a pair of eyes formed, all giving off the eerie light that seemed to be every ghost's birth – or _death_ – right.

Danny felt his jaw fall at the sight. He could feel panic rising in his throat, urging him to run, hide or scream like a little girl, though he knew that it would probably do very little to help him against a ghost and her small meat-monster army, since both were able to phase through walls at will.

But at the same time, he felt that ghost-instinct sending tendrils and anger through him; that ghost was threatening _his_ school, _his_ friends. If he had any time to think about what he was feeling, he would be shocked at the aggressive possessiveness he suddenly felt for his town – or perhaps it had always been there, and had just now gotten the chance to come to the surface.

The meat-monster and its still-forming comrades threw themselves at him at a flick from the Lunchlady's wrist, her pointed teeth showing in a cruel half-smile as he yelled, "Go get that meat-hater!"

Danny gasped at the encroaching enemies, but before he could shake off his fear-induced shock he was hit by one of the sinewy meat-arms. The hit shook his whole body, sending stabs of pain through every nerve as he fell to the ground below, leaving an indent. As he coughed and stared at the dust cloud left from his impact, he groaned, remembering that he could have gone intangible before he hit the ground.

Knowing the Lunchlady was still up there, he got to his feet as quickly as he could, wincing at the pain surging through his aching bones. As soon as he got his sense of balance back, he jumped from the place of his impact with the ground and soared into the air, just in time to see a meat-freak perform a messy cannonball at the place he'd just laid, juices and bits of brownish meat flying everywhere and spraying him head to toe.

He stared at the smashed foe with an unbridled disgust that was only topped by the terror that gripped him when the ghostly familiar started putting itself back together, the slices of ham and roast making a ferocious face at him. He shuddered and glanced up at the Lunchlady, who was grinning madly at her anticipated triumph over this young upstart that threatened her new 'territory'. He could recognize the certainty of victory in her eyes, and for a moment she reminded him of all the bullies he'd ever met; of all the people who had tried to alienate him.

His eyes narrowed at the ghost as a spark of rage suppressed part of the fear in his chest. This ghost wanted to push him around worse than any bully ever had, and he couldn't just back off from the fight and take to the sidelines this time; that simply wasn't an option, when his very presence ignited a deep animosity in both of them. One part of him was screaming at him that he was _insane_, that he should find a nice, dark corner to hide in, but this new-found part of him fought against his usual cowardice. He realized that he wasn't even sure which part of his nature it belonged to; the human or the ghost.

Before he could settle his inner conflict, he was hit square in the chest by the reformed meatfreak, and he instantly regretted taking his eyes off the enemy in the middle of a fight. _Hell, even I know better than that! Where's my head today?!_ He thought to himself as he felt the fist burrow into his stomach and send him hurtling through the air.

He hit the trees with a painful thud and he cried out in pain, his vision going white a second before his senses came back to him. He found himself sprawled on the ground, his back hurting from the meeting the branches.

He was considering not getting up when a voice rang out to him from somewhere above his head.

"Well well, my boy. You sure got into a scuffle earlier than I anticipated."

The amused tone wasn't lost on Danny, and he stumbled onto his feet, groaning slightly from the pain in his back before his gaze settled on the blue-skinned man before him. He felt a stab of familiar fear at the sight of Plasmius' pointed teeth, but he shoved it down and scowled at the grinning spectre before him.

"Not by my choice," he grumbled, "it's not like I provoked her or anything."

Plasmius' smile widened, "Dear boy, your very presence is aggravating to her, didn't I make that clear earlier?"

Danny shook his head in an attempt to clear the growing ache within it, but the motion only seemed to make him dizzier. "If you're so smart, you tell me how to get rid of her!" he looked up at the older ghost with anticipation.

The smile fell from the spectre's face as he regarded Danny somberly, "I'm afraid there's only one way to 'get rid' of her, as you so eloquently put it, Daniel." His red gaze was intense, "She will not stop attacking you, so your only option is to fight her – and win, of course."

Danny swallowed, "wh-what happens if I _don't_ win?"

The creepy grin returned to the other's face, "Well, then you die, child! Should that not be obvious?"

Danny groaned more in annoyance at the ghost than fear of the Lunchlady who was undoubtedly still scanning the skies for him, "You're a real fruitloop, you know that?"

Plasmius frowned again, "This isn't a trifling matter, son!" he insisted, catching the boy's focus again, "That ghost will not leave you to your own devices, so you _will_ have to fight her, unless you don't mind ending up splattered on the sidewalk."

Danny closed his eyes and sucked in a breath, trembling slightly. He really had no idea what to do. Did he _really_ have to _fight_? Should he even be listening to this guy's advice? Not only was he a ghost like the other one, he was the ghost that attacked him and his father, and he still wasn't sure why he'd backed off, though he had a nagging suspicion that it was because of his transformation. Perhaps he thought Danny was more interesting than whatever revenge he imagined he owed his father… but what would happen when he finally lost that interest?

Danny opened his eyes and fixed his panicked gaze at Plasmius. "But I-I – I don't know how to fight!" he said, before clamming up, ashamed of the pleading tone of his voice and worried that he'd pissed off the other, more powerful ghost.

But Plasmius only smiled, his sharpened canines making Danny shudder. "Well, you may not trust me yet, Daniel, but if you would be willing to take my advice…" he trailed off, looking at Danny expectantly.

His breath caught. There was his dilemma; could he trust this creature? Would he just be putting his life in more danger by listening to him? _I'm gonna get pummelled by the ghost of a lunch-obsessed old woman,_ he grimaced, _hopefully this guy can help me stay in one piece a little longer._

He looked hesitatingly up at the ghost. "Alright, if you have an idea… " at Plasmius' triumphant expression he flushed and stuttered, "Th-this doesn't mean I'll take you as m-my mentor or whatever!"

His outburst wiped the amusement off Plasmius' face and Danny froze when the older ghost glared at him with disdain. "Of course," he drawled in a cold voice that did little the cover the anger underneath his words, "I would not want to _force_ you into _anything, _Daniel. I came only to offer my abundant _knowledge_ and _experience _to a random child of fourteen."

Danny's eyes narrowed as he weighed the ghost's words. "Yeah. That's what you said earlier, wasn't it? Or wasn't that the _real_ reason, _Plasmius_?" he accused the ghost, silently gleeful that he'd caught him in his lie. _I may not be an A+ student, but even _I _could work _that_ one out!_

Plasmius face twitched when he realized his subtle slip, but he managed a fake smile as he drew up his hands with his palms out towards Danny in a submissive manner. "Now now, my boy, there's no reason for hostility. Like I told you, I'm here to _help_," at this he lowered his hands unto Danny's shoulders and the teenager looked up at him in surprise at the gesture, "but if you feel uncomfortable with me, I'll just give you one advice;" the look on his face was serious, "fight her."

Danny blinked. Then he blinked again before saying, "What? What do you mean by that? Isn't that what you're going to teach me how to do?"

Plasmius sniffed and removed his hands from his shoulders and turned around to pace in the air in front of the boy. "I would, but you do clearly not trust me. Besides, we wouldn't have much time to teach you anything; the enemy approaches already."

It was true, Danny realized. He could hear the Lunchlady's rageful screams behind the trees and he glanced nervously in her direction before focusing on his non-mentor again, just as he said, "Which is why the best advice I can give you is; fight, boy."

Danny frowned in annoyance, "How is that different from what I've been doing, if you're not gonna teach me anything?"

Plasmius rolled his eyes, "_Because,_ you weren't fighting her. You were being pummelled into the ground. Repeatedly." He smiled at Danny's red-faced indignation, "I dare say that any kind of resistance would go a long way."

"But she's so much stronger than me…" Danny mumbled, but Plasmius' snort surprised him out of his self-pity.

"Stronger than you? Oh, _please, _Daniel, you cannot truly believe _that_? She's somewhat talented at using physical objects in her fights, but as long as you remember to turn intangible she won't be able to hurt you. You could waltz right up to her and knock her out, if you play your cards right."

Danny gaped at him, "Are you serious? But… I … she – she can throw _ovens_!" he spluttered, not seeing how he could possibly measure up to the ability to move kitchen appliances effortlessly through the air.

The ghost laughed derisively at his shock, "My boy, that's not exactly a rare ability amongst ghosts! Before they materialize properly, their only way to interact with the physical world is to insert their essence into real-world objects. You could develop that ability, too, if you wanted; though I doubt you'll ever really feel the need to. There are many basic ghost-powers that are more useful than that."

"Like what?" Danny asked sceptically, though he couldn't deny the tiny bit of excitement running through him.

"Hmm, perhaps it would be more _interesting _if you found out on your own… unless you've reconsidered your decision?" at Danny's scowl the ghost grimaced at quickly moved on, "For now, seeing as you are, ahem, _new_ to this, I suggest that you simply punch her."

Danny scoffed at the ghost, "_Punch her?_ Is that the best you can come up with?" He tensed when he saw the dark look crossing the ghost's features before the other visibly schooled himself.

"In your case, Daniel, I believe it's the best either of us can come up with." He smirked, and Danny had a feeling that he'd just been insulted. He was too preoccupied with the roars coming from behind him to retort, however, so instead he took a shaky breath and hovered into the air effortlessly. He missed Plasmius' eyebrows lifting at this, and his expression was back to normal when he looked back at the ghost.

"… thank you," he finally said, and this time he saw the surprise overtaking the spectre's face, "I still don't believe you're doing this just to be nice, but… thanks, I guess." He shrugged.

Plasmius smiled, and for once Danny didn't feel intimidated by the sharp canines. "It's entirely my pleasure, little badger. I truly hope you'll see that I really only want what's best for you." His voice was almost kind and lacked the arrogant tone that Danny had quickly come to know him for. He found himself cracking a nervous half-smile at the ghost.

The moment was interrupted when a roar warned the two ghosts of the meat monster descending on them. Plamius glanced up before phasing into the ground below before the familiar could touch him, while Danny jumped out of the way, once again forgetting to turn intangible. When he decided to take to higher ground, the monster roared and leapt after him.

As he cleared the top of the trees, he had but a split second of warning when he noticed a beam of green light coming towards him, and he span out of the way with a yelp. Wide-eyed, he turned to the source and saw several people gathered by the school, his mother holding a gun smoking anti-ghost gun in her hands. The expression on her face – what he could see of it for the mask and goggles – was horrifying, and he gulped nervously. Apparently he'd have to worry about his mother's aim besides the Lunchlady and her goons.

When he noticed the meat-freaks getting closer, he flew higher up into the air, noticing that his father was standing a bit away from his mother, shooting at the Lunchlady – or rather, shooting anything _but_ the Lunchlady. His father's aim was really that awful. His cheeks flushed with embaressment at realizing that the ghost wasn't even bothered by the man's presence; he was focusing completely on having Danny pursued by her meat-monsters. As he watched, she brought out her hand and screamed something at she pointed at him, and he instantly felt squishy but firm hands around his ankles. Before his foes could drag him down, he curled around himself and threw a fist against the assaulting monster – as hard as he could.

Danny had never hit someone – or _something_ for that matter – in his entire life, as far as he could remember, but being half-ghost didn't only make him glow and fall through his bed, apparently. He felt his knuckles connect with the sinewy flesh and the monster uttered a faint gurgle as the force of the punch tore it away from his legs. Before it could gather its wits, Danny twisted in the air and brought his heel towards the creature in a swift kick. The attack finally made the meat come apart, and the bits fell to the ground and splattered the spectators, who gasped and dodged unsuccessfully.

Encouraged by the small victory, Danny grinned widely and spun around to face the two remaining monsters. A sudden rush of adrenaline surged through him. He knew he had to fight them, but the realization didn't cause him as much discomfort as it had earlier; in fact, he felt _excited_ when he locked eyes with the growling meat-freaks and instinctively crouched in on himself to protect his vital areas. He didn't have any experience with fighting, and his mother had never taught him anything, despite his dad begging her to, for some reason, but the act felt completely natural, even if he found himself a little unsure of how to proceed.

Fortunately he didn't have to make the first move as the monsters came charging at him. The next two minutes were a flurry of limbs, meat, punches, kicks and grunts, and Danny wasn't sure which side got more hits in, but the bruises he was quickly accumulating told him clearly who was winning; he simply wasn't good enough yet to win against the two of them when he was still a beginner. Besides, even if flying came naturally to him now, he was still inexperienced and if he wasn't randomly losing altitude, he was spinning around his own center.

He pushed away from the scuffle, but the two familiars surrounded him and prowled around him as he stood, hunched over, between them, an arm wrapped around his aching ribs. He couldn't remember when he'd taken a hit there, but it hurt badly enough that he would have been worried, if he wasn't still caught in his high-strung state.

Just as his two opponents decided to take the first move and jump at him again, a green beam sliced through one of them. Danny glanced down in surprise and saw his mother was still observing the fight. For some reason she hadn't gotten involved in the last few minutes, but now she'd apparently decided to take matters into her own hands.

Danny found himself torn between relief that she'd undoubtedly saved him from a good mauling, and indignation that she'd interrupt a fight that didn't concern her, and was suitably shocked when she turned her weapon on him. To his luck, the other monster had taken that moment to launch at him, accidentally acting as his shield.

Danny gaped at his mother, too shocked for words. _Did she just try to _shoot_ me?! Why would she do that to her own son?_ He thought, only to slam his palm against his face and squeeze his eyes shut in exasperation as he groaned to himself, "Of course she would shoot me, she doesn't know that I'm her son! Not that it would matter much if she knew, though…" he had no more time to monologue when his mother – who had considerably better aim than his father – pointed her weapon at him.

"Eat anti-ecto blasts, you odd manifestation of post-human consciousness!" she cried. Rather than admire her creative choice of insult, Danny threw himself out of the way of the shot and somersaulted through the air.

He saw his mom turn towards his dad and yell at him with a commander's voice, "Jack! Leave that harmless ghost alone and catch the ghost kid!"

"Right on it, Pumpkin!" his dad yelled back enthusiastically, pocketing his gun and drawing a slightly bigger one from one of his many pockets.

Meanwhile, Danny had gotten a hold of his momentum and was spluttering with indignation, "Harmless? Her? She throws _stoves_ at people!"

His mother's eyes narrowed dangerously at him, "Don't think you can escape punishment by charming us, wraith! We can see through your tricks."

"Punishment? But I haven't _done_ anything!" he exclaimed, completely at a loss for the considerably higher amount of aggression his mother held towards him, compared to what she held for the Lunchlady, "Come on, why don't you give me a chance? I'm trying to fight her too!" he added hopefully as he pointed at the female ghost who just scowled at him as per usual.

"That's what they always say!" He heard from somewhere behind him and he turned around just in time to see his dad letting loose a ball of blue energy from his gun. He fell a few feet in surprise, which was the only reason the attack hit him dead-on. The hit sent a painful jolt throughout his body and he was only aware that he'd been sent flying backwards towards the school when he hit the brick wall –painfully hard.

As the sound of his mother's "Good one, Jack! Now, get out the Thermos!" wafted towards him, he shook his head and tried to get up, only to fall back on his knees when the dizziness became too much. Through bleary eyes he saw his parents running towards him with something that looked like a soup-cannister, when a green-skinned, glowing something landed in front of them. With a flick of her wrist, the Lunchlady sent a newly reformed meatfreak at his parents, who immediately started shooting at it like crazy.

Danny would have been more worried about his parents being attacked by un-dead meat, if his ghostly saviour hadn't just turned to look at him with honest concern in her eyes. He noticed there weren't any flames in them when she leaned down slightly towards him and asked worriedly, "Oh dear. Are you okay, young man? Are you hurt?"

Danny stared at her, open-mouthed and gawking, before he pulled himself together and coughed into his hand, his cheeks burning, "Y-yeah, I'm just a little dizzy. I think I'm fine." He answered.

She smiled sweetly at him in relief before her features turned to rage and the flames appeared in her eyes once again. "That's too bad! 'cause you being fine is not part of my well-balanced menu!" he gasped and launched himself into the air as she had another meatfreak jump at him. Thoroughly confused at her mood swings, he flew around at random, periodically deflecting blows from her familiar. He was getting better at defending himself, but the fight was wearing him out quickly and he could feel his core straining to keep up with the exertion.

Just as he was starting to feel panicked, he noticed his parents still shooting at the meatfreak, which had been joined by another one. His dad was holding a thermos in one hand, and Danny recognized it from one of his lectures; if he remembered correctly, it was supposed trap ghosts. Pushing down the hurt at realizing that they'd wanted to catch _him_ in it, he quickly went invisible and altered his flight to take him up behind his dad. With only a short hesitation, he grabbed the thermos. His dad noticed and his eyes went wide in realization, but before he could do anything – like shooting his half-ghost son – Danny had turned the thermos intangible and phased it through his hands. His dad gasped at the cold feeling and spun around to shoot madly at Danny, but the boy had already flown off to the raging Lunchlady, who eyed him with suspicion.

"Did you bring soup, boy?" she said, venomously, "Is this another way for you to disrespect my menu!"

He landed on the ground and took a hold of the top of the canister. But before he screwed it off, he hesitated. Looking back at the ghost, he tried to convey as much honesty into his voice as he could, "I don't have a problem with your menu. Really! And Sam – Sam… well, she's just Sam, but everyone else likes it!"

The Lunchlady stared at him blankly. Taking the opening, Danny pulled off the top of the thermos and pointed it at her. "So, get in the Thermos already!"

He had a strange pulling sensation in his core, which quickly turned from uncomfortable to slightly painful. His usual white aura turned slightly blue and sputtered irregularly, and he felt his energy being sucked up by the thermos. For a split-second he was afraid that he'd miscalculated, that he'd get sucked into the thing instead, but then the energy burst from the opening of the thermos, forming a blue ecto-net around the Lunchlady who screamed as she was pulled into the small container.

When she had been sucked in, Danny quickly put the top back on, screwing the thermos shut. With a sigh of relief, he realized how exhausted he was; his aura was nearly non-existent, and his core was fluttering again, like it had when he'd just transformed in the auditorium and keeping himself invisible had almost been too much to perform. _Wow, does that feel like last month. No wonder I feel like I'm about to fizz out of existence. _It had grown increasingly easier to use his powers the more time he spent in his ghost form, but fighting another ghost, her minions and his crazy ghost-hating parents was apparently too much for an only recently shaped ghost.

"Ghost kid! Return that anti-spectre tool immediately!" a voice behind him sounded, making Danny turn hid head slightly in that direction. His mother was pointing a gun at him, wearing a merciless expression, his dad bouncing on the balls of his feet beside her, eager to be let loose on the weakened ghost child.

Danny regarded them for a second; maybe he should just _tell_ them. Maybe they could solve his problem, make him human again, _cure_ him.

_Except that there's nothing to cure,_ a voice in his head said, and he bit his lip worriedly in response, because it was _true_. His situation, the consequences of his accident, frightened him to no end, and the thought of _not being human anymore_ was … sickening. But he'd never felt so _alive_ before either, ironically. He wasn't just suddenly able to walk through walls; the abilities felt completely natural, and he was constantly overwhelmed by new senses and instincts that he had never had before, and yet they felt familiar to him all the same.

_And the flying…_ a small smile found its way to his lips. That was worth a thousand electrocutions.

Okay, maybe not a _thousand,_ but _still._

Still, he didn't know what had happened to him or what was _going_ to happen to him, and it had only been a couple of hours since he'd been numb with terror at the changes he'd gone through. It was tempting to just let himself turn human in front of his parents and ask them to help him.

But then he looked into their eyes, all he saw was their burning hatred for ghosts and all things ectoplasmic, and he felt a dead weight settle in both his heart and his core. He was too exhausted, too tense after the fight he'd just had, to trust his parents with his secret just then; what if they turned on him? What if, even if they managed to 'cure' him, they were still disgusted with him – would they look at him with those same eyes, full of enmity? His heart broke a little at the image. At least, if he didn't tell them, they wouldn't know they were looking at their son. They would think he was just another ghost, and he could pretend that it wasn't _him_ they were glaring at so odiously.

Taking a steadying breath that his body didn't really need, he steeled himself and squeezed his hard-tried core for the last bit of ecto-juice. With a final, solemn glance in his parents direction he countered gravity's hold on him and flew into the sky, dodging the blasts that followed his escape. Setting his course for the school, he just managed to phase through the entry-doors before a tremor shook him and he fell to the ground with a stifled cry, dropping the thermos in the process. He was completely out of energy, and the resulting constriction of his core felt similar to trying to breathe in a room with no air.

The edges of his vision rapidly turned into a blackness working towards overtaking his eyes completely. Being unable to check his surroundings for witnesses or otherwise moving in any way, he let the darkness take him and his mind away.

In the almost abandoned hallway, a boy in a very strange situation lost consciousness as his core finally gave in to exhaustion, shifting its host to a more suitable form. A thermos rolled down the corridor to come to a stop in front of a pair of eyes, watching the scene from the shadows.

* * *

Vlad watched as the boy gasped and fell to the floor. The fall was quickly followed by a rapid transformation to his human side. He was not particularly worried for the child; an unwilling and sudden change was not unexpected in the first few days of his change, nor in the first few months, and the boy had certainly drained every drop of ecto-energy in his body to fight the assaulting ghost. He wasn't sure how quickly the boy would develop his abilities, since his only other specimen to compare him to was himself, and the boy's transformation had already proved itself very different from Vlad's from the very moment it happened.

Vlad was _seething_ with anger. First the boy dared refuse his magnanimous offer of assistance and mentoring, and when he'd finally been forced to accept just a modicum of his expertise, he'd thrown the man's generosity right back in his face!

But as aggravating as the teenager had quickly proven himself to be, his defiance hadn't been completely unexpected. In fact, Vlad hadn't thought he'd make much progress with the boy today anyway – he hadn't even expected to talk directly to him that day.

He had, however assumed that the hybrid would be unable to defeat the plump, female ghost that had attacked him – on great part because of his lack of experience with battles – and he'd been looking forward to taking advantage of the situation; surely the boy would have ultimately called out to him for help, and if not, Vlad could have still swooped in and saved the boy in the nick of time. The act would have gone a long way to showing the boy that he could 'trust' him.

Instead, that buffoon, Jack Fenton, had, for the _second_ time in his life, invented something useful and brought it right to the boy accidentally. Vlad wasn't sure what angered him more; that his chance at guiding the boy had been taken from him, or that the child now thought he had no reason to learn proper fighting skills; why should he, an obvious pacifist, bother learning how to win in a ghostly fight, when he had a 'Fenton Thermos' to catch the ghosts with? He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes screwed shut. Hopefully he could rectify this, when the boy finally joined him.

And he would, one day. He couldn't reject their superiority.

Vlad stilled, his eyes opening to look pensively at the unmoving boy on the floor of the hallway. _Strange_, he thought quietly to himself, as he picked up the Fenton Thermos,_ a forthnight ago, 'superior' would not have been a word I would use about our shared condition, at least not in my own thoughts. But then, the boy wouldn't have shared my condition at that time…_ but he was torn from further speculation over this development when the doors were slammed open and the two Fenton ghost hunters came charging into the hall, closely followed by several of the teaching staff.

When Maddie's eyes fell on her unconscious son, she gasped. The gun in her hands had fallen clattering to the floor by the time she'd reached her son's side, quickly pushing her hood and goggles off so she could have a better look at him. Vlad sighed enamoured at the sight of his love, but then grimaced when the disruptive _oaf_ to Jack Fenton broke his line of sight by running to Daniel's and his wife's side and crouching over the boy with a worried look.

"Danny? Sweetheart, are you okay?" Maddie's trembling voice sounded throughout the hallway as she gently shook her son. After a few seconds, the teenager groaned and slowly came back to reality. Lifting a hand to his aching head, he peered out through the gaps between his fingers at the couple.

"…mom?"

Maddie smiled in relief, "Dear, are you alright? You were passed out in front of the doors. What happened?"

"It was that foul ghost, wasn't it!" Jack suddenly bellowed, startling the other two – and the rest of the worried onlookers in the hallway – by jumping to his feet with renewed rage.

Daniel blinked, disoriented. "Wh-what are you talking about, dad? The L-Lunchlady didn't hurt me… much…"

The last word seemed to go unnoticed as Jack took hold of the boy's shoulders and shook him carelessly, to Vlad's great annoyance. _Can't the idiot see that the boy requires a more _gentle_ hand at the moment? Typical Jack Fenton._

"The Ghost Kid!" Jack said excitedly, making both Vlad's and Daniel's eyes widen in shock. Surely Jack couldn't have figured out the boy's secret? _Jack?_

"It was that blasted Ghost Kid who hurt you, wasn't it, son!" at those words, both hybrids let out a breath of relief. _No, of course the hay-brain wouldn't figure it out. He wouldn't realize it even if the boy changed in front of him._

Maddie frowned at slapped his hands away from her son. "Jack, don't shake him. He was obviously knocked unconscious. We'll have to make sure he gets home alright before we set after that foul ectoplasmic creature."

"But-!" Daniel tried to get a word in, probably to defend his alter ego, Maddie shushed him and combed his hair with her fingers.

"It's alright, Danny. We'll get that ghost, don't you worry."

"Right, son! You just leave it to us! We'll avenge you!" Jack added. Danny tried a few more times to tell his parents that they were wrong, but his attempts were either completely ignored or taken as a shocked victim's ramblings as he was dragged to his feet by his dad and led out of the school doors. His mother stayed behind just long enough to tell the teachers that they would return later to scan the area and advised them to leave the premises until then.

Vlad floated after Daniel and Jack, watching with disapproval as the man basically hauled the child into the monster of an RV. Vlad smirked and phased through the car and found the boy sitting dejectedly on a bench running along the side of the vehicle, resting his head in his hands.

He floated over to the younger hybrid and dropped the Fenton Thermos in his lap, making the boy look up in surprise. Of course, Vlad was invisible, so the boy's gaze fell to the Thermos, which he picked up and looked at strangely, as if he couldn't quite believe that it was really there. Leaning a little closer so that Jack, who was sitting in the driver's seat ranting about ghosts and assault vehicles, couldn't hear him, he said, "Good work today, little badger. Masterfully done, I might add." The boy jumped at the unexpected voice and turned his wide eyes towards Vlad, who smiled a little thought the boy couldn't see it, "I'll see you around, son."

With that, he left the vehicle before any of the substandard ghost-sensors could pick up his scent and turned to fly home to his castle in Wisconsin. He allowed himself a small smile; today hadn't gone that badly, in the end. The boy had, after all, accepted his help, listened to him; and, best of all, he hadn't told his parents _anything_. And if he hadn't told them under the threat of being shot to smithereens, he was unlikely to ever tell them – and knowing Jack's thickheadedness and Maddie's, ah, way of seeing the things she _wanted_ to see, he imagined they would never find out the truth on their own.

With one of his most pressing worries solved, Vlad's smile widened. _I look forward to our next meeting, Daniel._

* * *

**A/N: Hey, look! I got the linebreaks right in the first try without messing up. Miracles _do_ happen!  
**

**Some people expressed need for 'more Vlad' in the last chapter. Well, is *this* enough Vlad for ya?! - is what I'd want to say, but I'm pretty sure a lot of fangirls would respond with an instant 'no'.**

**You may be wondering if I hit a writer's block with this chapter, since it took me over a month to complete. But I'm just really slow.**

**Reply to Tooncrazy(guest): Yes, I believe that he would need to change into his ghost form once in a while since it's still new and because his two halves need to learn how to operate together.**

**P.S.: what do you guys think of the rating? Should I change it? Personally, I believe it's fine, but I've noticed that other countries seem to expect higher ratings on stories. Like, a certain manga would be 15+ in my country, but 18+ in America. **


	5. Spotter

**What do you mean it's been two months since I updated? You're obviously delusional.**

* * *

Chapter Five: Spotter

* * *

Danny was woken by the highly intrusive sound of his alarm clock. The insistent beeping sent a shock through him and he jolted awake, jumping out of his bed to search the room with wild eyes. It took him several seconds to realize that there weren't any ghosts or their freaky familiars prowling around anywhere.

He sighed and closed his eyes, rubbing his forehead with a lost expression. The day before had been strange, to say the least. To be completely truthful, he didn't know what to make of it; he'd struggled with emerging _ghost powers_ the whole day, despairing the apparent loss of his humanity, regaining a bit of cheer at the discovery of his ghostly ability to _fly_ – only to have said ability put to the test when he had to _fight for his life_ against another ghost.

He frowned at the thought and brought his hands down to inspect them. Some part of him expected them to show how much his body had changed, but they looked exactly the same as two days ago. Nothing had changed, really. _But nothing is the same, either, _he thought glumly.

Still lost in thought, he started picking up his clothes from where he'd dropped them the day before, donning them as he made his way towards the bathroom. When he'd finished he went downstairs, only to freeze at the doorway to the kitchen.

His family was sitting around the table. Jazz had her nose buried in a book – as usual – and only paused in her reading to throw a disapproving glance at their parents, who were busying themselves with fixing or designing ghost weapons. That wasn't really unusual, but Danny couldn't help but take a step back at the sight of his mother brandishing a heavy-looking rifle with a smile on her face. The weapons didn't used to bother him at all; why should they? But that was before he'd become part-ghost himself. Now the sight of the two of them – with their menagerie of weapons and anti-ghost tools – made him almost afraid of sitting with his family.

_Is this what it's going to be like every day from now on?_ He thought as he eyes the weapons fearfully. _I can't take this! They're basically showing me what they're going to use to shoot and catch me with! … and not necessarily in that order! Next they'll be telling me the best way to dissect a ghost!_

As he considered foregoing breakfast to sneak off to school instead, Jazz looked up and saw him standing awkwardly in the doorway. She lowered her psychology book and frowned at him. "Danny? Is there something wrong?" his parents tore their eyes away from their inventions at the sound of her voice and looked from their daughter to their son with confused and slightly concerned eyes.

He quickly brought his hands up to wave away their questioning glances. "No!" he croaked, as always a terrible liar, "Everything is fine!" he tried smiling, but it came out as a half-grimace, making his sister narrow her eyes in suspicion. _Great job, Fenturd, why don't you tell her that you're a ghost while you're at it?_

"I don't know, you look a little pale, little bro…" she said with a frown, looking at him from head to toe and back, probably trying to figure out what was up with him.

"You aren't still feeling faint after being attacked by that foul ghost boy yesterday, are you, sweety? Two attacks in two days …" his mother asked him as she put down her ecto-rifle.

He was starting to sweat under their scrutinizing gazes. His eyes searched the room, trying to find an excuse to leave and finally decided on the well-used fallback option.

"Uh, yes, well – I have to go meet Sam and Tuck! I'll see you guys when I get home!"

As he darted out of the kitchen, his sister hurriedly got out of her seat, grabbing her book and shoving it into her bag. As he slammed the front door after him, he heard her call, "Danny, Wait! I'll drive you to sch-!"

He ran down the street as fast as he could before Jazz could catch up to him. A couple of minutes later, he stopped and glanced back to make sure she wasn't following him. His friends weren't waiting for him; he hadn't had a chance to agree to meet with them last time he saw them, so he couldn't be sure if they were getting to school by some other means of transportation.

He let out a sigh and leaned back against the wall. It had only been two days – less, actually – but he was already cracking up under the pressure and no one even suspected him of anything yet! They only noticed he was acting strangely and wanted to help him. How ironic that his reason for worrying was the fact that he wasn't worth their concern…

He squeezed his eyes shut. _No, that's not true. I may be half ghost, but I'm still Danny and I'm still _human_ – right?_ He didn't know what to think. Everything was happening so fast; ghosts actually exist, his parents were _right _and his sister was _wrong_ – that was almost the most shocking bit – and he'd been changed into another species, apparently.

And he was the only one of his kind.

He felt a pang in his heart at the thought. He'd never really felt lonely in his life before. Sure, he wished the majority of the school didn't think he was worthless, but he'd always had his family, and he'd been inseparable from Sam and Tucker from the day they met. But now it was as though there was a distance between them; he didn't know how to explain, or how they would take it. Judging from their – truthfully, completely reasonable – reaction to the Lunchlady, they probably weren't going to be too fond of what happened to him.

_It's not like I've done something wrong, _he sulked, scowling at nothing in particular. _This is so unfair._ In reality, he knew it was more than just unfair, what with his parents' obsession and his psycho-stalker ghost who wanted to kill his dad for something he (probably) hadn't done. But he'd been worrying over the accident since it happened, and now that he was starting to doubt that his ghost side would ever disappear, he'd only grown more frantic. It helped to treat the problem like a childish matter of teenage-angst. It made him feel more normal, even if he knew he was nowhere near the definition of normal anymore.

He let his head fall back and gazed absentmindedly at the sky. The soft, white clouds floated across the wide expanse without a care, and he felt a longing in his chest. _I wish I could just fly away…_ he blinked. Then he grinned. He couldn't fly away and leave it all behind, exactly – it wouldn't really solve his problems with his friends and family, anyway – but he _could_ fly to school, at least.

With a quick look around him to see if anyone was watching he slinked into an alleyway where he closed his eyes and searched for the cold feeling of his ghost core. He expected some difficulty, but it sprung to life the moment he willed it to appear. It was strangely liberating when the cold twin rings passed his body, replacing it with a much less corporeal one. It was as though he'd shed his earthly worries along with his humanity.

Taking a deep breath, he looked up at the sky again. He crouched and jumped into the air. After wobbling a bit, he found his centre and hovered easily above the cemented street.

He shot into the sky with a huge smile.

* * *

A soft sound of mechanical whirs and metal plates scraping against each other was heard throughout the quiet study. Despite the fire burning merrily in the fireplace on one side of the room, the surroundings were mostly in darkness.

In front of the fireplace were two plush and elegant armchairs upholstered in dark red fabric. In one of them sat a man with his silver hair in a ponytail. He was staring into the flames with dark eyes, looking for all the world as though he was trying to snuff out the only source of light in the room with his own scowl.

The man didn't even glance up at his guest when the armor- and steel-covered ghost slid into the armchair beside him. They sat in silence for a few seconds before the spectre evidently lost its patience and leaned towards the man the meticulous business suit.

"Why did you call me here, Plasmius?" he asked ill-concealed impatience.

Vlad's gaze finally turned towards his guest as he sneered, "Watch your tone, Skulker. I will not tolerate your impertinence."

Skulker swallowed visibly but refused to wince at his employer's irritation. He was, after all, the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter. No one was more terrifying than him.

Except, perhaps, Vlad Plasmius.

"Sorry, Plasmius. I was just wondering why you called me out of my lair if you're just going to stare down your human-world fire."

The man smirked as he leaned back in his chair. He propped his elbows on the armrests and folded his hands in front of his face, glaring at the ghost with an evaluating expression. "Tell me, Skulker… have you heard of Amity Park?"

The ghost's eyebrows lifted in curiosity, "Amity Park? Yes, I think I heard a few of the other ghosts mentioned that town… that crazy elderly, food-fixated woman wouldn't shut up about it. She said there was a stable, permanent portal … but that can't be true, can it? Isn't yours the only one?" he asked with a frown.

Vlad sighed, "Not any longer, it seems. Some of my, ah… _acquaintances _have recently developed their own Ghost Portal. They have no doubt let it stay open since it was first turned on… since shutting it off would be a tad difficult, with the switch _inside_ the portal." He mumbled the last part with a bemused expression.

Skulker blinked. "… your friends don't seem too smart."

The ghost drew back in shock when the hybrid's eyes flared an angry red. "They're not my _friends_!" but then he seemed to catch himself, and he coughed subtly into his hand and relaxed back into his seat. "Well, _one_ of them isn't. In any case, that is not what I called you here to discuss."

Skulker resisted the temptation of rolling his eyes at his employer's moodswings and asked instead, "What can I help you with, then, Plasmius?"

The smirk was back on the man's face and Skulker was sure that he'd been drawing his weapons right about now if he wasn't in the hybrid's employment. "There is a new… _ghost_ in Amity Park. One which interests me greatly."

Skulker's eyebrows rose. _What kind of 'new' ghost can attract Vlad Master's attention? Whatever that poor sprite's managed to do, it can't be good. _"I see. How does your interest in this vic-ghost involve me?"

"I wish to… keep an eye on him. Unfortunately, I can't be everywhere at once, so I'm afraid I'll have to call in your expertise to… watch over the boy." The man said with a shrug.

_Boy?_ "But can't you just duplicate yourself and have your clone stalk him?"

Vlad's eyes narrowed as he sent the ghost a seething glare. Skulker tried not to flinch. "I am not _stalking_ him. I am just…" Vlad glanced into the flames and another smirk spread across his features, "_watching over him_. I wouldn't want my newest project to bite off more than he can chew. And in answer to your question; maintaining a duplicate for that long over several days is just too taxing, especially when I can send you. Besides, stealth isn't my strong forte. It is yours."

Skulker knew Vlad was baiting him, but he just couldn't help but bite. "True, I _am_ the greatest hunter in the Ghost Zone, after all. There's no prey I can't shadow. Even if it's usually for the sake of my collection."

Vlad's smirk grew into an outright smile, and Skulker could almost _hear _him think the words; _hook, line, sinker_. "Good. So you see why I thought you would be up to the task. But remember, Skulker, he isn't your prey," his expression suddenly grew dark, his smile just an inch shy of manic, "he is _mine_."

* * *

Sam scowled at the ebony-haired boy as he neared his locker. Danny took one look into her stormy eyes before freezing where he stood with an expression of near-horror.

"H-hi, Sam, what's up?" he tried asking with a goofy smile that almost – _almost_ – melted her rage then and there, but she steeled herself and held onto the anger.

"Oh, not much. Just hanging out by my best friend's locker, after a terrifying _ghost attack_ yesterday, during which said _friend_ showed some pretty worrying ghostly symptoms and later was apparently _knocked out by a ghost _if you believe what the teachers are whispering about." Her glare intensified and her eyes narrowed at the nervous boy in front of her, "But that couldn't possibly have happened, 'cause _my friend_ would have surely _called me _to let me know he was _alright_ and not suffering from amnesia or internal bleeding or…!"

By now people where sending her annoyed looks, but no one seemed particularly surprised at her outburst. The rumours of Danny's epic 'beat-down' by the Apron-Ghost, as the teenagers called it for some reason, had spread throughout the halls of Casper High that morning like a forest fire on speed. By now, the whole school had heard how Danny Fenton had gotten his behind handed to him and was now suffering several severe injuries and was in a coma state.

Obviously the rumours were over exaggerated, but Sam had still felt that nasty jab of fear when one of the cheerleaders had asked her if she was single now that her boyfriend had been pummelled by the ghost. She knew it couldn't have been _that_ bad, or his responsible sister would have made sure to call her and Tucker, but _still_. If he was hurt, then why hadn't he told her? Why did she have to find out from an alphabet-chanting pom-pom girl?

"Woah, hold on, Sam! It wasn't that bad at all! I wasn't even knocked out!" he held his hands up in a pacifying gesture and took a step back.

She stopped her ranting, mostly because she realized how embarrassing the situation was becoming, but she couldn't deny the relief she felt at his words. Even if his parents knew a lot about ghosts –despite _never_ having seen one before – she wasn't completely convinced that interaction with these dead – _un_dead? – creatures was entirely healthy for a human body.

"Good, 'cause if you _were_ injured, then I would have killed you!" she said tersely, ignoring how her words contradicted each other. It was all for a good cause.

"What did you do now, Danny?" came Tucker's voice from behind her, and she turned to see the boy approach them with an amused grin. "Good to see you haven't joined the ranks of the deceased, by the way." He walked up and gave Danny's shoulder a friendly punch.

Seeing that his friend's appearance had distracted her, the boy smiled back at Tucker. "Thanks, Tuck. I really appreciate your concern."

Tucker's eyes widened. "Concern? Who's concerned? I just don't want to have to look for someone else to play Doomed with."

Danny tried to look angry, but the effect was ruined by his laugh. "Geez, Tuck, at least Sam cares more about my health than our high score!"

Sam sighed, knowing that the argument was lost. If there had even been an argument in the first place. "Just… call or something next time, alright?" she mumbled, averting her eyes with a blush. This was getting close to dangerous territory.

Danny nodded with a smile, obviously relieved at getting off the hook. "Right, Sam. I'll do that." he said, before he turned to his locker and started fumbling with his books.

Sam frowned at him and exchanged a look with Tucker, who quirked an eyebrow at her in puzzlement. Danny was definitely not acting like his usual self and he seemed way too quick to change the topic of the conversation. _For someone who'd just survived a ghost attack, you'd think he'd talk about nothing else. Instead, it's like he's trying to pretend nothing happened._ She scowled at her friend as she felt her anger rise again. He was hiding something from them.

She crossed her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes at him. "Danny." He turned his head towards her, "What aren't you telling us?"

His eyes widened comically at her accusation and hurriedly turned back to his locker, hands pulling books out and placing them back inside it at random. "What do you mean, Sam? Y-you know I tell you guys everything."

"Yeah," Tucker said slowly, "you do. Don't you?"

For some reason, that simple question seemed to shut their friend up. His mouth hung open for a while before he closed it with a snap and a guilty expression. "I… Okay, guys, don't freak out when I tell you this, but when that ghost attacked I sort of –"

"Are you _still_ blaming _ghosts_?!" an exasperated and overbearing voice cut him off. The three friends turned to see Jazz walking towards them with a stern expression and what was probably a psychology 101 text-book under her arm. "I know it must have been traumatic, little brother, but disassociating from the event like that is _very_ bad for your mental health. You need to accept what really happened!"

Sam lifted an eyebrow at the huffing redhead. "Excuse you, Jazz. Danny was about to tell us –"

"What do you mean 'what _really_ happened'?" Danny asked, his face slightly scrunched up in confusion before it suddenly fled, only for surprise to take its place. "You don't mean you still think that we were attacked by _burglars_, do you? Your saw that Lunchlady ghost yesterday, right?!"

Jazz shook her head at him and pinned him with a hard look. "Danny, you know what happened couldn't _possibly_ have been –" her eyes widened a bit and she looked thoughtful as she cut herself off, apparently changing her mind on what to say. "Of course. It was a ghost… _not_ burglars. I'm sorry, I suppose I'm just having some trouble adjusting to this whole 'ghosts exists'-thing." she smiled unconvincingly and the two boys stared at her uncomprehendingly. "Wh-what I _meant_ was… that you obviously have some psychological scarring from how you reacted to mom and dad's ghostweapons this morning. You shouldn't bottle up you worries like that! Remember, you can always talk to me, right, little brother?"

_What a load of bull,_ Sam thought, her lips twitching in amusement at the older girl's poor acting. _She obviously doesn't believe in ghosts. Didn't she see the glowing apron-lady? Or does she think it was a very well-coordinated mass-hallucination? _ Realizing that Jazz had made her lose her chance at finding out whatever Danny had been hiding, she leaned back against a locker with a bored expression on her pale face. She'd get him to tell her eventually. She always did.

Danny looked into his sister's eyes with clear suspicion, and Sam smirked. _Yeah, even Danny 'clueless' Fenton would notice something wrong there._

"Uh. Yeah, sure, Jazz…" he said, looking a bit sullen. _Strange; if he knew that Jazz was lying he would be angry. Is this about the thing he isn't telling us? _

Apparently his sister agreed with her, because she bit her lip and looked at him with worry. She reached her hand out towards him. "Danny – " but her voice was cut off by the school bell, and she let her hand drop with a frowning glance at the speakers. "I have to get to class but… let's talk later, ok?"

Danny avoided her eyes as he nodded with a non-committal grunt. Apparently deciding that she wasn't going to get a clearer answer out of him, she turned and left them at a quick stride.

Tucker lifted his hat and scratched the back of his head as Sam rolled her eyes. "Dude, what was that about? She usually acts like you're not even related, so why the sudden sibling-concern?"

Danny sighed. "I think this ghost situation has made her go a little nuts. She's been acting out of sorts since the first one appeared in our basement. It's like she thinks she can turn back the clock if she can have the rest of us believe nothing weird happened."

"Yeah, that sounds like your sister, alright." Sam remarked dryly as the three of them started making their way to English. "Look, Danny, I don't know what's up with you, but –"

"There's nothing wrong!" Danny interrupted her, clearly frustrated. When he saw her startled expression, he softened his tone. "Really. It's fine. _I'm_ fine."

She let her surprise melt into a scowl. "Sure, Danny. You don't _need_ us." With that she turned and left them. She didn't need eyes in the back of her head to know that the boys where exchanging looks, but right then, she didn't care. Danny could come crawling back when he needed their help.

* * *

Danny was trying very hard not to shove his face into his palm. Or his desk. Or the wall.

Sam wasn't going to let it go, he realized. She knew him too well, and he couldn't hide how stressed he was to them, and Sam just had this way of getting past his shields.

He just didn't know what to say to her; how do you explain something like this? He'd have to _show_ them and he didn't think that'd go over well. All the ghosts he'd seen so far had been pretty malevolent. Even if Plasmius seemed to like him – and he really doubted that the ghost actually felt responsible for what happened to him – both of them had still been volatile and _insane_.

He didn't want his friends to look at him like he wasn't human. But more than that, he didn't want to admit that he really _wasn't_ human. He'd somehow managed to keep it in til Sam started prying, but he couldn't deny it any longer.

Frankly, he was scared. He'd followed the rabbit into the ghost portal and now he was trapped in an ectoplasmic wonderland where nothing was like it should be. _Wait, does that make Plasmius the Queen of Hearts? I'm not sure if I should be laughing or crying._

Suddenly, it was a bit harder not slam his face into the desk.

_What the fudge am I even thinking about? Fairytales? I'm really out of my depth here._

In an effort to quell the disaster area that was his mind, he tried paying attention to his class teacher instead. After staring blankly at Mr. Lancer for some unmeasurable amount of time, he felt a cold tickling sensation in his midsection.

He closed his eyes. _What now?_ He thought tiredly. _What is going to mess up my life _now?

The feeling spread throughout his chest, and he recognized the cold tendrils from the day before and his eyes widened. The last time he'd felt this, the Lunchlady had been messing around in the school kitchen.

_Is it the Lunchlady again? Was if Plasmius or another ghost entirely?_

_A new one?_

_No, this isn't my responsibility!_ He thought furiously. _Just because I know there's a ghost in the school, doesn't mean that there's any reason for me to –_

But what if it could feel him, too? The Lunchlady just _had_ to show up near him? Why was Plasmius in the bathroom yesterday, if it wasn't because he could feel his presence, like Danny could feel his? _Come to think of it, I don't remember feeling anything when he showed up… but then again, I was a bit preoccupied…_

If the ghost could feel him, and if what his would-be-mentor said about ghosts' territorial tendencies were true, then it might just seek him out – and if it appeared here, in his _classroom_ with all these people around, looking for a _fight_ … he couldn't fight without any of his ghost powers, which meant that he'd have to change in front of his classmates.

He swallowed nervously, but he knew that he didn't have a choice. If he was going to be forced to fight no matter what, he'd rather keep his _condition_ to himself.

He got up, and every head turned to him at the sound of his chair scraping against the floor. Mr. Lancer raised an eyebrow at him. "Mr. Fenton, is there something you want to share with the rest of your peers?"

Danny blinked and looked around at the curious faces staring at him. Sam was still mad, and pretended not to care, but Tucker seemed amused. Danny smiled sheepishly at the worn-out teacher, an ducked his head. "Umh, no, sir. I just need to… use the bathroom?"

Lancer held his eyes with an unamused expression, and Danny got the distinct impression that the man didn't believe a word he just told him. _What, it's not weird that a high school student has to use the bathroom, is it? I mean, come on…_

Finally the teacher let out a long-suffering sigh and waved him off. "Go ahead, Mr. Fenton. Try not to get lost on your way back, hm?"

_What does he mean by 'lost'?_ He thought, before he said "Sure thing, Mr. Lancer!" and raced out the door, with half the class snickering behind him. _What was so funny about that? Honestly…_

He stood in the hallway for a second, trying to decide what to do. Should he find some place to wait for the ghost? But who knew how long it would take the ghost to notice him? Plasmius would probably advise him to find the ghost before it found him. _Man, I'm already acting like he's my 'mentor'. That guy – ghost- really has a way of getting under your skin. Do he and Sam take lessons from the same place?_

Deciding that a pre-emptive strike was the best defence, he realized that he might as well go to the bathroom to transform into his ghost form.

* * *

Skulker flew in circles above the human-adolescents' institution, frowning at his locator. Plasmius had explained that the ghost boy would appear in this area, if he appeared at all, but there was no trace of him. Surely this new ghost couldn't make his own portal from the ghost zone? Although it _would_ explain his employer's interest.

"This is a waste of my time." he grumbled to himself, "I am the ghost zone's greatest hunter! How dare he sent me on a hunt for prey that won't even come out for a fair fight? Hrumph." What was so interesting about this ghost, anyway? Vlad Masters usually asked for his expertise in hunting down ghosts that the hybrid either wanted to employ or destroy. Sometimes he'd steal various things for him when Plasmius were either too busy to bother phasing through walls himself, or simply wanted to make a security guard look foolish by insisting that the thief was a techno-ghost.

Just as he was about to call it quits, a dot appeared on his locator and his eyebrows shot up in surprise. If that was the ghost boy, then he'd really appeared out of nowhere. Had he really made a portal? Whatever the case, this sounded like a _rare_ ghost.

_Perhaps I should keep him for myself,_ he thought, _it's been a while since I last added to my collection…_

He fired up his rockets and shot in direction of the unnamed ghost; it seemed to be aiming for the dumpsters behind the institution.

_Whatever does he want there? Is he dumpster diving?_

Remembering his orders to shadow the ghost –and not to fight him – he turned himself invisible before landing on the roof overlooking the containers with human garbage.

He was only mildly surprised to the Box Ghost there, going through some boxes left outside for whatever reason. The only unique thing about that annoying dime-a-dozen ghost had, was the ability to pop up _everywhere_ and _constantly_. It was very distracting when Skulker was looking for prey to chase, especially when the box-brained ghost kept thinking he wanted to steal his boxes.

But he _was_ surprised when a white and black ghost phased through the wall and stared at the overall-clad blue ghost. There were several peculiar things about him, even excluding his weird, almost human-coloring.

_And _why_ is he _standing_ on the ground, when he can fly so easily? This child makes no sense._

He observed as the white-haired teenage ghost approached the irate Square-Container Ghost and struck up a conversation with him… which mostly consisted of various formulations of 'get off my lawn', to which the Square-Headed Ghost replied with a negative.

As in; he began throwing boxes at the kid.

Skulker rolled his eyes, thoroughly unamused by the usual theatrics of this well-known nuisance. He almost felt tempted to help the kid out, if only to be spared the constant yapperings of 'Beware!', but reminded himself that Plasmius wanted him to stay _hidden_. Besides, he wasn't going to assist possible prey.

"Oh, come on! Why can't you just leave?!" the teen screamed in a squeaky voice. Anyone could see that he hadn't been in many fights yet; apparently he really _was _a new ghost, even if he seemed to already have a stable form. Interesting.

"You will NOT keep me from my marvellous cardboard containers! I AM THE BOX GHOST!"

"Yeah, you've said that like _twenty_ times already!"

"Then perhaps it is time for me to think outside of the box!" The blue menace yelled dramatically, lifting his hands above his head with a furious smile. _Is he enjoying this? _Skulker wondered._ I think he is. Hmm…_

A box lifted with the motion of the ghost's arms, covered in an eerie, purplish glow.

The platinum-haired child-ghost groaned and slapped a hand on his face. "Oh, I _knew_ I was going to regret this." He said, as the box went straight for him, knocking the child into the brick wall of the school.

The hunter winced. "Uh, that gotta hurt." But then his eyes widened as the child moaned and held his head in pain as a white light appeared around him and transformed him from a ghost child … into a human boy.

Skulker gaped. He stared.

A _halfa._ A ghost-human _hybrid_.

Just like his employer.

_So _that's_ why this ghost child is of such great interest to Plasmius! He's another hybrid. But how? He said he was the product of sabotage when he was making…_

A ghost portal. With his colleagues.

"…_Some of my, ah… acquaintances have recently developed their own Ghost Portal…"_ that was what he said. Could they even be the same friends who betrayed him so grievously?

"Dammit, Plasmius." He mumbled, as the child got back up and transformed back into his ghost form. "Why couldn't you just tell me? I'd obviously find out on my own…" But then, if he was going to keep information from him, then the boy was really free game…

_Maybe I can't catch Plasmius for my collection… but this child is not him. This halfa is a _newbie…

His decision made, he grinned and jumped from the roof and shot at the ghost child, who turned around at the look on the Box Ghost's face. With a yelp he jumped out of the way with a rolling dodge through the air. The net hit the garbage containers harmlessly.

"Blasted." _Good instincts. Perhaps this won't be as quick as I thought._

"Hey! What's your problem?!" The child yelled indignantly.

Skulker smirked. "My problem, whelp, is that I lack a pelt for my fireplace. I intend to remedy this." He shot yet another net at his adversary, who hurriedly jumped higher into the air.

"Pelt? Wait… you mean you're going to _skin _me?" The boy cried, eyes round with shock.

_Ah, at least he's not completely idiotic. The sweeter the chase. _"Indeed."

The boy sputtered, "B-wha-why w-would you do that?!"

"You are part of a rare species, Ghost Child." He shot a couple of normal, ectoplasmic shots at him half-heartedly. "And as the greatest hunter in all of the Ghost Zone, I will add you to my collection."

"What, are you serious? What have I done to you?" the child was almost shivering with fear now. Good, he should take the greatest ghostly hunter lightly.

"It's not about what you've done, whelp. It's what you _are_." Deciding that he'd properly explained his intentions to his future fireplace-rug he turned on his suit's aiming system and prepared to finish the fight.

Before he could do anything, the child's eyes narrowed dangerously and he flew at him with a sudden determination and swung his fist at him. The punch connected with his head and he was sent sailing backwards as stars appeared on his vision. He forced his flight to stop and shook his head before bringing his attention back to the child.

_He not weak – I suppose halfas are naturally powerful – but he's only using physical attacks… Perhaps he is that ghost the Lunchlady obsessed about yesterday? I thought she was hallucinating. … again. Guess I'll have to get my head into the game._

Skulker smirked at the kid, "Good to know you're not a complete waste of my time, Whelp. But I don't feel up to discovering the limits to your abilities, so I think I'll just end this right here." He pressed a button on his wrist and a small gun popped out. He grabbed it and pointed it at the nervous half-human hovering a couple of feet below him. "Say goodbye, Ghost Child."

The weapon started humming and the kid was apparently frozen in fear, ruining whatever chance he may have had of avoiding the attack. But just as Skulker was about to take the shot, a gloved hand suddenly yanked the weapon out of his hands.

He blinked at his empty mechanical hands, several thoughts running through his head, the main one being; _who is stupid enough to steal from _me_?_

He turned his head slowly to see the Box Ghost floating beside him with a blank expression and a gun that did not belong to him clutched to his chest. He seemed as lost to what happened as the hunter did.

Skulker's eyes narrowed as he glared at the blue ghost in the ridiculous, purple overalls. Had the pathetic excuse for a ghost finally lost his mind? Why would he suddenly grab something that obviously _wasn't_ box-shaped in any way?

_This is no time for questions. The child may break out of his stupor at any moment, and I have no desire to see how hard he can hit if he actually figures out how to use his ghostly energy. _He bared his teeth. "Give that back _now._"

The ghost looked panicked for a second, but then the usual unreasonably cocky smile spread across his face and he floated back a few meters saying, "No, I will NOT give it back! For I have found a NEW obsession; from now on, I am the MINIATURE HANDGUN GHOST!" With an awkwardly evil cackle, he turned and flew away, still holding the gun in a fashion that showed he had no idea how to use it.

Something snapped in Skulker's mind and he shot after the pest without a second thought to the prey he was leaving behind. "Come back here, you waste of ectoplasm!"

* * *

Danny stared at the rapidly disappearing pair as they raced away from the school.

_What just happened?_ He thought incredulously, _I already know ghosts are crazy, but _what?

He phased through the wall of the school, leaving behind the mess of boxes and spilled garbage and transformed into Danny Fenton in a janitor's closet. As he went out into the hallway, the speakers rang out to recess and the doors to the classrooms slammed open all the way down the corridor. Remembering his promise to come back before class ended, Danny ducked his head as he slowly made his way towards English to pick up his books.

_Did the Box Ghost really just try to _help_ me? Against that predator ghost? But they're _ghosts_! They're not supposed to help humans…_

_But the Lunchlady seemed a little worried about me when I got hurt yesterday, too. Maybe they're not so bad? …Or maybe it's because they think I'm a ghost. I guess it makes sense they they're nice to other ghosts. … But Plasmius said they'd rather attack other ghosts, didn't he? And that guy with the flaming hair said I was a rare species… oh, right, they both saw me change into a human. _He cringed at the memory and rubbed the back of his head, even though it didn't hurt anymore. _So the Box Ghost helped me, even though he knew I was a human? Why would he do that? But both Plasmius and my parents seem to think that ghosts would never help a human…_

His thoughts continued circling, leaving him so confused, that he actually felt a little relieved when Sam and Tucker popped up in front of him, all but demanding that he explained why he'd never returned to class. But only almost. He was still a terrible liar.

* * *

Vlad glared at the ghost in front of him. Of all the pig-headed, stubborn ghosts he knew and employed, he'd expected _Skulker, _out of all of them,to act with a little more_ tact._

"When I asked you to observe the target, this wasn't _quite_ what I had in mind." He stated with as much calm as he could.

They were in his office, with Vlad sitting by his desk with a dark look in his icy blue eyes. The hunter seemed to shrink in on himself opposite him, glancing everywhere but at the man in front of him.

"Uh, I don't know what you're talking about, Plasmius. What are you so upset about?"

Vlad felt the frown on his face but could do anything to rein it in, so he followed it up with a silent snarl. The ghost kept completely still, too used to his moods to panic. But he didn't seem too comfortable with the situation, either.

Vlad opened the top drawer and pulled out a newspaper. Resisting the urge to throw it at his employee, he placed it carefully on the surface between them, the front cover facing Skulker. The ghost peered at the article and his flaming hair dimmed for a heartbeat.

_Ghostly teenager and Overalls-ghost fight Mechanical ghost at Casper High,_ said the title, followed by a short reference to how Daniel had fought with the other ghost at the school yesterday and 'injured' Daniel Fenton, son of the renowned –and only – ghost hunters in Amity Park. Vlad was seething.

"Care to _explain_ this, Skulker?" he said coolly, his voice betraying none of the fury coursing through him at that moment.

The ghost swallowed "Well, see, I thought he could use the practise?" he tried forming a winning smile, that came out looking more nervous than anything.

Vlad bared his teeth. He may not be in his ghost form with all of its fanged glory, but he knew he could still be a menacing sight. "I thought I made it explicitly clear that you were to _observe_ the boy, not try and _skin him!_" The thought made him more furious than he would have imagined. It was one thing for Daniel to fall in a battle, or die in an accident… but being caught and used as a _freak show, _his skin used as a _rug…_ it was almost enough to send shivers down his spine.

But Vlad Masters didn't do shivering. He did revenge.

"You're fortunate nothing unspeakable happened, Skulker. Otherwise I might have been forced to… consider an _alternative_ to our partnership." He saw the ghost stiffen and smothered a smirk. There would be time for that at another time, after he'd ensured that Skulker would not attack his Daniel again.

Well. Not without his permission, at least.

Skulker winced, but kept himself fairly still at the very unsubtle threat. "Understood. I will… hold back on hunting the whelp."

Vlad raised an eyebrow at his words. _He means he hasn't given up on catching him completely._ He rolled his eyes. _Well, at least he knows I wouldn't let him get away with it. That should keep him from harming Daniel. …Then again, he should have known better before he attacked the boy. Darn these ghosts and their obsessions!_

"Hm, I guess that will do. For _now._" He added, when the ghost seemed to be a tad _too_ relieved. " But from now on you'll have to keep your distance, so he doesn't recognize you. I don't want you to have an excuse to get into a fight with a _teenager_." He looked pointedly at the hunter, whose cheeks were tinged green.

"He may be young, Plasmius, but he's not weak!" he objected.

"Perhaps. But I still do not see how defeating a newly formed ghost with no experience in battle – from neither his ghost _nor _his human existence – could possibly be worthy of _'the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter'_" The ghost had been about to say something, but clammed up at the look on Vlad's face.

Noting Skulker's sheepish expression, Vlad decided he'd learned his lesson. Or was at least cowed enough not to attempt something that ridiculous again. He was about to dismiss him when his phone rang. He glanced at the number, having no intention of answering, but froze when he recognized it.

Signaling for Skulker to be quiet, he picked up the handset and said, in as welcoming a voice as he could manage, "Vlad Masters speaking."

It sounded only a little bit smug.

"Hi, Vlad." said the beautiful voice on the other end. A smile spread on his face and he vaguely noticed Skulker gawking at him. He did not worry about the ghost, however. Not when Maddie was talking to him in such a tone.

"Maddie my dear! How absolutely wonderful to hear from you. How are you, hmm? Any new inventions?"

He could hear her chuckle on the other end. "Oh, I'm fine Vlad, and so is Jack, thank you for asking!" He grimaced. _I did not ask about Jack… _"And speaking of inventions! I know Jack told you we had to opt out of the reunion to fix our Ghost Portal, but it's working now! Granted, we're no entirely sure how – Jack seems to have inconveniently lost his memory _again_ – but we'll figure it out."

Vlad could feel his heart pounding in chest. "Does this mean you _will_ be coming to the reunion, my dear? Oh, that is good to hear! I was worried we wouldn't be seeing each other, it has been _far_ too long!" _not that I wouldn't have found some other way to visit…_

"Yes, it has been a long time, hasn't it? Twenty years! Jack and I will really be looking forward to meeting you…"

"You and Jack? Will you not be bringing your children?" Vlad asked casually.

"The kids? I'm sure they would love to come, but are you sure you want them to come?"

"Of course! The more the merrier! I can't wait to meet your children, Maddie!" _or meet them _officially,_ at least._

"Well, I guess we'll all be seeing each other soon!" There was a faint explosion from her end, "Oh no. I have to go, Jack blew up Danny's bed again. Bye, Vlad!"

"Maddie-" he began, but she was already gone. For a moment he stood there, listening to the beeping, before he placed the phone back down on the desk with a sigh. He rubbed the bridge of his nose before looking back up at the nervous ghost with a crooked smile.

Despite a few mishaps, everything was going according to plan.

_This will be a reunion they will _never_ forget._

* * *

**Ah, Vlad, you haven't appeared near enough in this chapter. I hope to make remedy that.**

**Why did this take so long? Well, after spending a couple of weeks on exams, I had a 3-weeks course (we have those after exams at my university; not sure if this is common in other countries) which is usually a nice change, since we get to focus on one subject – which would have meant I'd have an easier time concentrating on my fanfiction.**

**Unfortunately, it was very demanding AND I was grouped with people who … had a few problems. Ended up mostly doing the reports myself *sigh* in other words, the usual.**

**After that, I guess I was just a bit out of practice :P**

**SO! What do you think of this chapter? I'm personally not satisfied with it at all, but what can ya' do?**

**I actually wanted to have a short chapter focusing on Danny's ghostly development before the reunion, but with the speed I seem to write at, that would be unnecessarily cruel ;)**


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